07
March
2018
|
15:24
Europe/London

In response to the Chancellor Philip Hammond’s speech today (7 March 2018), Policy Chairman Catherine McGuinness said:

In response to the Chancellor Philip Hammond’s speech today (7 March 2018), Policy Chairman Catherine McGuinness said:

“Firms across the EU will welcome the ambitious yet achievable proposals set out in the speech made by the Chancellor Philip Hammond today.

“The financial services sector is a key component of the UK’s trade with the EU and helps balance our goods deficit.

"It's good to see that the Chancellor acknowledges the importance of financial services as part of a wider free trade agreement.

“The UK’s position is now much clearer.

“London’s global financial hub cannot be replicated anywhere else on the Continent.

“Refusing to include financial services as part of a final trade agreement would undoubtedly damage the whole European economy, limiting growth and risking jobs.

“Fragmentation will mean costs to customers and businesses would rise, access to deep pools of liquidity held in London would decline and the EU’s ties to the world’s leading financial expertise could be severed.

“We urge the EU to give their negotiating team flexibility by including financial services as part of a final trade agreement.”