City of London calls for permanent EU market access for UK clearing houses

euronews (in English)

London's financial district is calling for the EU to grant it access to its lucrative derivatives market past 2025 and pave the way for the two sides to "rebuild trust" after Brexit.

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00:00 The City of London CEO Chris Hayward says it's time to draw a line under Brexit and

00:05 re-engage with Brussels for the greater good of both the EU and the UK's economies.

00:10 I actually think Prime Minister Sunak now has taken a very positive approach to the

00:15 EU as has our Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. So I think those days are past. I talk about a

00:22 painful divorce, it was a painful divorce, but I think we have to now get trust back

00:27 because the opportunities for both the EU and the UK by trading together, by working

00:32 together far outweigh those conflicts.

00:35 But is it over for the UK given that you have a stubbornly high inflation rate which people

00:41 like Mark Carney are saying was a direct result of Brexit?

00:45 Let's be clear, some of these issues you've talked about are common across Europe. So

00:48 high inflation isn't peculiar to the UK, nor high interest rates. We're all affected by

00:53 the geopolitical issues that are affecting our economies at the present time. The one

00:58 thing I think we need to do in the UK, and I think the EU as well frankly, is to drive

01:03 economic growth. We haven't had a lot of economic growth over the past few years and we need

01:08 to get growth back into the system. And I think EU countries are finding the same challenge

01:12 as well.

01:13 Well then does that not mean that the UK is better off in something like the European

01:16 Union? When you look at the US, the way it has its Inflation Reduction Act and the EU

01:20 where you can work together as 27 member states, you just look at the COVID Recovery Fund and

01:25 various other funds that happened throughout COVID. The UK is an outlier because of the

01:31 supply issues, the cost of supply, it's at the end of the supply chain. It's not just

01:36 a global issue, is it?

01:38 Look, I regret us not being in the single market. I think to not be in the single market

01:43 was a mistake and I'll always think it was a mistake. But I do think that the opportunities

01:49 now for us are that we have to now compete on the world stage. We have to stand alone.

01:54 We're capable of standing alone. I think we'd have been better standing within the EU, but

01:59 we now have to seize those opportunities that are available to us.

02:01 How do you see standing alone and having growth? Does that mean driving down regulations, social

02:07 dumping or that kind of thing?

02:08 So first of all, we don't want to deregulate. Let me be absolutely clear. High quality regulation,

02:13 financial regulation is really important to getting inward financial investment from across

02:17 the world. So that's actually very important to us. Getting growth is about getting investment

02:22 growth into the country. So it's stimulating our fintech sector, for example.

02:28 Just final question, because, you know, it may not be over for some people. 62% of people

02:32 would like to rejoin. Would you relish a second referendum or, you know, even a conversation

02:38 about that?

02:39 Personally, no, I think not in my lifetime. I think we have now taken a decision. There

02:44 has been a referendum. Of course, you could always argue with that swing the other way

02:48 if we did it again now. I think we've now set a course for ourselves, which we now have

02:54 to follow.

02:55 Thank you very much for joining us.

02:56 Thank you very much indeed.

02:57 Thank you.

02:57 [WHOOSH]

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