Brexit, Fintech and Risk Management for the Financial-Services Industry in the UK and Europe

Andrew Milligan

As any cursory history of the UK demonstrates, this country has had a complex relationship with Europe. The political and economic tensions of recent decades are exemplified by the debate about whether to join the Common Market, the disagreements about signing the Maastricht Treaty and, more recently, the arguments put forward by the UK Independence Party and its supporters. The result of the referendum vote on June 23, 2016, has ushered in a new era of complexity as the UK’s relationship with Europe will evolve once more.

A whole range of issues require analysing, negotiating and agreeing in the next few years. The Labour Party usefully produced a list of 170 major items that would need to be addressed. On some estimates, Parliament has to work through 80,000 pages of legislation, while the Queen’s Speech of June 2017 announced eight major bills on the topic to receive Royal Assent by March 2019.

On its own, Brexit would be a major challenge to the financialservices industry. However, at the same time, the sector faces a series of threats and opportunities from a range of innovative developments commonly known as fintech. One of the key reasons that UK