Brexit

Sunak pours cold water on EU financial services equivalence deal

Door left open for future deal but chancellor plays down prospects for immediate agreement

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s comments were made as part of the government's plan to publish a 'sweeping set of reforms' on financial services policy
Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s comments were made as part of the government's plan to publish a 'sweeping set of reforms' on financial services policy Photo: Getty Images

Talks on establishing equivalence for financial regulation between London and Brussels have stalled, chancellor Rishi Sunak has said, in one of the UK government’s most damning comment on the negotiations yet.

While the Chancellor left the door open for a possible future deal, saying that the UK did not plan to undercut the EU’s rules, which would make equivalence impossible, he used a speech on 1 July to say that the UK was pushing ahead “as a sovereign jurisdiction with our own priorities”.

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