The UK has left the EU but there remains a vast array of operational and legal issues for businesses to address. See below for our perspectives on the key challenges and opportunities that Brexit presents for different...more
This Alert gives a high level overview of the new trading relationship between the European Union (‘EU’) and the United Kingdom (‘UK’) for goods and service supply. The EU and the UK reached provisional agreement on a...more
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) does not provide a comprehensive free trade arrangement for financial services between the EU and the UK. In particular, the TCA contains no measures to offset the loss of the EU-wide...more
Financial services, including insurance and reinsurance (together, (re)insurance), have effectively been omitted from the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), resulting in arguably the “hardest” Brexit for any key UK...more
With the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement of 24 December 2020 ("Agreement"), the UK and the EU have fundamentally changed market access for financial services firms. As of 1 January 2021, UK financial services firms...more
On 31 January 2020, the UK left the European Union and entered a transition period that is due to end at 11:00 pm GMT on 31 December 2020. At this point, it is still uncertain whether a new EU/UK deal will be reached. To...more
Now that the UK Government has a majority in Parliament to pass the EU (Withdrawal) Act before its invocation of Article 50 of the Treaty of European Union expires on 31 January 2020, the threat of the UK leaving the EU...more
With the UK General Election on 12 December 2019 only days away, both of the leading parties are promising policies that in different ways may impact inward investors into the UK. Whether this is the rapid Brexit promised by...more
The EU-UK agreement reached on 17 October 2019 ("Agreement") revises the Irish backstop with a new protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland ("NI protocol")....more
Brexit has been postponed again, until at least 31 October 2019, but with the possibility that it may occur sooner, maybe even within a few weeks....more
As the approach of Brexit draws inexorably closer, the continued lack of certainty around what any Brexit withdrawal deal will look like, or indeed whether a deal will be agreed at all, is causing increasing concern among the...more
The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a "Dear CEO" letter that it has sent to the Chief Executive Officers of all firms authorized and regulated by the PRA, as well as EEA firms undertaking cross-border...more
On 29 March 2019, the UK is set to leave the EU (a process most commonly referred to as "Brexit"). The UK and EU are currently in negotiations to agree upon a transitional period which is proposed to run from 29 March 2019...more
UK regulators expand on plans to smooth the transition for inbound passporting firms in the event of a “no deal” Brexit. Overview - HM Treasury published draft legislation on 24 July 2018 to establish a temporary...more
The object of this Alert is to highlight some practical implications of Brexit for the supply of pharmaceutical products and medical devices in the European Union (EU) and related action items which companies should be...more
• The U.K. and the EU have agreed on the substantive trade elements of the legal text set to govern the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU (the “Withdrawal Agreement”). If the other outstanding elements of the Withdrawal Agreement...more
The UK Financial Conduct Authority has launched a short online survey seeking information from European Economic Area firms currently operating in the UK under a passport. The information obtained will identify those firms...more
The guidelines present a stark contrast to Prime Minister May’s vision of a “deep and special” partnership with the EU after Brexit. The President of the European Council has issued negotiating guidelines for the future...more
The U.K. Prime Minister delivered her third major speech on the future partnership between the U.K. and the European Union following Brexit. In it, the Prime Minister restated the key elements and provided greater detail...more
The European Council has set out its negotiating position whereby the UK will become a rule taker, not a rule maker, during the transition period. The European Council recently approved negotiation guidelines covering the...more
The risk of a no agreement ‘cliff-edge’ is growing and the prospects for a transitional agreement, while somewhat improved, remain uncertain. The groundwork in Whitehall and the negotiations in Brussels have made only limited...more
The result of the UK’s general election on 8 June has reignited speculation that the UK government might pursue a softer Brexit. In this update, we provide a reminder of the main “softer” Brexit models which had previously...more
You couldn’t really make it up! First there was the surprise result in the Brexit referendum last year. Then it was the unexpected Trump victory in the US Presidential election....more
One likely impact of the decision of the United Kingdom (UK) to leave the European Union (EU) is that the UK’s financial services industry will lose automatic rights of access to the EU’s free trade area (the Single Market)...more
On 23 June 2016, the people of the United Kingdom (UK) voted in a referendum to leave the European Union (EU). The UK Government gave the EU formal notice of its intention to withdraw from the EU on 29 March 2017. This...more