FCA speaks on future of regulation

Nausicaa Delfas spoke on the future of UK financial regulation post-Brexit. She said FCA continued to prepare for Brexit, whatever form it takes and whenever it happens, and referenced its preparations for a no-deal exit.  She said major banks and insurers are strong enough to cope with this, and that the biggest risks of disruption to financial services users have been addressed.  She noted, though, that action on the European side is patchy, with differing national actions and regimes.

Looking forward, she confirmed the desire to work closely with the ESAs and Member States towards common objectives and supervisory policies, and said regulators must cooperate to avoid the risk of different outcomes in the UK and the EU 27 for the same financial instruments and so avoid regulatory arbitrage.

On equivalence, she stressed that, given the common rulebooks, the UK will be the most equivalent in the world to the EU on day 1, and she hoped for both jurisdictions to make equivalence findings on each other based on an outcomes basis.

Finally she spoke of the wider markets and FCA’s international work, and the drive to address the global risks of market fragmentation.