The UK and EU Commission have published their draft MoU on regulatory cooperation in financial services. The draft is still subject to the internal processes of the EU, but both parties intend to sign it shortly. The MoU:
- creates a new Joint EU-UK Financial Regulatory Forum, which should be understood to represent the views of the UK Government and the Commission and will be a platform to “facilitate structured regulatory cooperation”, while not restricting the ability of either side to implement its own regulatory, supervisory or other appropriate measures;
- says the Forum should meet at least twice a year, and that representatives from specific Member States or Government Departments, and other regulatory experts as agreed may be invited to meetings;
- issues that will be discussed may include:
- promotion of timely domestic implementation of international standards;
- sharing of information on regulatory developments;
- identifying cross-border implementation issues;
- supporting a shared understanding of matters that may result in market fragmentation;
- sharing views on regimes such as equivalence or other measures to address cross-border issues, including dialogue on either side’s right to grant or revoke equivalence;
- exchanges of views on key measures that may have a significant impact on the financial services sector or impact market interconnectedness;
- sharing views in advance of G20 or other international meetings;
- sharing information on supervisory and enforcement policies relating to implementation of international standards;
- keeping each other informed on money laundering and terrorist financing threats.