The chief executive of BNY Mellon Investment Management, one of the world's largest asset managers, called on the UK government to secure an equivalence deal with European regulators — an achievement that has already been dismissed by several City executives.

Hanneke Smits, who took over as CEO of the $2.2tn asset management group in October 2020, told Financial News: “We really need to get the proposal on equivalence agreed. It needs strong focus on the part of the UK government. It’s taken quite some time.