Bracing for Brexit

There are very few things we can be certain of in regard to Brexit, other than the fact that it won’t be concluded in 2018. It would be premature, though, to dismiss Brexit as topic solely for the policy makers sitting in their ivory tower far removed from the technology and operations that keep financial markets running smoothly on a daily basis.

UK regulators have already asked firms to come up with contingency plans for a worst case scenario. Whilst last week’s transition agreement makes it perhaps less likely those plans will need to be implemented, it doesn’t remove the issue entirely because nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Consequently, technology and operations professionals need to manage the risk of significant changes this year.

And while we wait for more tangible details to emerge, I suggest we all brush up on Brexit vocabulary and revisit the differences between equivalence and passporting and branches and subsidiaries, as these will drive much of the coming change.