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(Updates with more detail, reaction)
By Huw Jones and David Milliken
LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Britain left the door open for
European Union financial firms to operate in Britain after a
post-Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31, pledging on
Monday to help "renew" the City of London's pre-eminence in
global finance.
Finance minister Rishi Sunak said he was no longer waiting
for Brussels to decide on access to its markets in return and
castigated the EU for holding out on a deal key to Britain's 130
billion-pound ($171 billion) financial sector.
"Where others might wish to use equivalence as a political
weapon, that won't be our approach," Sunak told parliament.
The European Commission has said it was waiting for more
information from Britain about its intentions to change
financial rules before making further equivalence decisions.
Brussels grants access to its markets if the rules for
foreign financial firms in their home country are deemed to be
equivalent or as robust as regulation in the bloc.
The EU has said it will allow only UK clearing houses to
access the bloc for 18 months from January, meaning the bulk of
Britain's financial activities still face being cut off and
forcing banks and insurers to use new hubs in the bloc.
London and Brussels remain locked in talks about a broader
trade deal less than two months before the scheduled end to the
transition period.
Access to EU markets for Britain's huge financial services
industry is being treated separately.
Sunak said he would push ahead to grant access for a range
of EU financial firms, but he also excluded some key sectors
pending further negotiations.
"We are starting a new chapter in the history of financial
services and renewing the UK’s position as the world’s
pre-eminent financial centre," he added.
"By taking as many equivalence decisions as we can in the
absence of clarity from the EU, we’re doing what’s right for the
UK and providing firms with certainty and stability."
GREEN BONDS
Britain's access for EU financial firms would cover credit
rating agencies, derivatives transactions, financial benchmarks
and short-selling.
It would also avoid UK banks having to increase capital
buffers to cover exposures to EU sovereign debt, but it did not
include swathes of securities trading that form a core of
existing cross-border activity.
The finance ministry said it was not ruling out further
equivalence decisions if they were in Britain's interests and it
remained open to further dialogue with the EU.
"This leaves out 99% of cross-border financial services and
is unaccompanied by any corresponding move from the EU to
benefit UK firms trading into Europe," Simon Morris, a financial
lawyer at law firm CMS, said of the move.
Sunak set out other measures to bolster Britain's
attractiveness, including a new taskforce to propose reforms to
rules for companies that list in London, in a bid to compete
with rival centres like New York in attracting tech firms.
He also announced plans for the first sale of "green"
government bonds to raise funds for environmentally friendly
investment.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said Sunak's
announcements demonstrated a commitment to ensuring "our
financial centre remains open to the world".
($1 = 0.7612 pounds)
(Reporting by David Milliken; Writing by William Schomberg and
Huw Jones; Editing by Alexander Smith)
