Finance & Trade

UK, US Sign Deal on Trade Negotiations

January 30, 2017

During their recent White House meeting, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and US President Donald Trump signed a "U.K.-U.S. Trade Negotiation Agreement" setting up working groups to determine areas that might be addressed by a free trade deal between the countries to be signed "as soon as possible" after the UK departs the EU.
ECB Official Outlines Steps Toward EU Banking Union

January 27, 2017

At a recent conference in Rome, Peter Praet, a Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), highlighted the mission of the ECB to push the EU to overcome the traditional jurisdiction of national governments over banking rules in order to centralize them at the EU level with a European Banking Union.
Australia Announces Trade Talks with UK

January 25, 2017

Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison has announced that Australia and the UK will begin "preparatory" talks this week on the development of a free trade deal between the countries that will enter into force following the UK's departure from the EU.
UK Plans Post-Brexit Replication of Trade Regime

January 25, 2017

The UK's UN Ambassador in Geneva, Julian Braithwaite, has announced his government's plans to minimize any chance of objections at the World Trade Organization to Britain's trade policy as it departs the EU by, as far as possible, transposing the EU's existing trade arrangements with other countries into UK law.
UK-US Leaders Plan Meeting on Post-Brexit Trade

January 25, 2017

The Telegraph reports that British Prime Minister Theresa May will be the first foreign leader to visit US President Donald Trump following his inauguration ceremonies to discuss building on US-UK working group conversations to form a free trade deal between the countries after the UK leaves the EU.
UK Official Advances Post-Brexit Trade Negotiations

January 24, 2017

Asserting that his country's departure from the EU will permit it to build a "free and open network of commerce and trust" with countries around the world, UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox has announced that he is conducting informal negotiations to establish free trade deals with 12 countries following Brexit.
UK Welcomes Trump Plans on Post-Brexit Trade

January 18, 2017

The office of UK Prime Minister Theresa May has welcomed comments from US President-elect Donald Trump predicting that the US and the UK would "very quickly" negotiate a free trade agreement after Britain leaves the EU and has suggested the two countries could engage in short-term "scoping decisions" on trade prior to Brexit.
Dutch Official Calls for EU Deal on UK Corporate Taxes

January 18, 2017

The Guardian reports that the Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Lodewijk Asscher, has asserted he will seek to require the UK to sign up to regulations on corporate tax avoidance, preventing the country from becoming a successful "tax haven" outside of the EU, before agreeing to any post-Brexit EU trade deal with Britain.
Shipping Companies Object to EU Emissions Plan

January 17, 2017

Reuters reports that representatives of the shipping industry have objected to an EU vote to include shipping companies in the bloc's emissions trading system, which applies a tax to businesses to offset their greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that the unilateral application of emissions rules would "create market distortion while generating trade disputes."
UK Body Seeks New Financial Deal After Brexit

January 17, 2017

TheCityUK, a membership body for financial services companies in Britain, has published a paper calling for the negotiation of a unique arrangement between the UK and the EU on financial services after Brexit that is not necessarily based on current EU regulations permitting financial "passporting" throughout the bloc.