Financial services are a key part of the UK and EU economy, providing services to commercial and retail customers.

The sector includes banking, insurance, investment and property, and employs more than 1 million people. It could be critically impacted by Brexit and is a key area for the negotiations:

• The European Council’s March 2018 negotiating guidelines envisage the UK becoming a “third country”, outside the EU27’s legal framework
• The UK government set out its view in the Chancellor’s HSBC speech that the size and importance of the UK’s finance sector means there should be a “structured regulatory dialogue” with the UK being allowed to “deliver an equivalent outcome by different means”, and with the industry having a “special travel regime” for inter-company transfers of less than 3 months
• The financial services industry’s International Regulatory Strategy Group  have called for a close working arrangement between the UK and EU27, with a robust dispute resolution mechanism.