How the CCP location debate helped split the EU

The European Central Bank’s insistence that all euro clearing take place within the eurozone was at the heart of December’s row between the UK and the rest of the European Union. David Cameron was feted by some for his defence of London’s financial district, but the dispute could run and run. By Michael Watt

It's good to have friends in high places, and for a UK-based clearing house they do not come much higher than the UK prime minister, David Cameron, who caused a political earthquake on December 9 by refusing to sign up to a series of European Union (EU) treaty changes, following hours of talks with other EU leaders. Cameron had tabled six demands in return for UK support, one of which was exemption  from the European Central Bank’s (ECB) so-called location policy, which states that central