Sharing custody of data protection in Europe’s most complicated divorce

The Brexit vote comes at an awkward time for UK firms with respect to the EU’s recently-agreed General Data Protection Regulation. Michael Malarkey and Carlo Miani outline the issues and suggest a forward approach.

Forensic Risk Alliance provides forensic accounting, data analytics and eDiscovery solutions, specialising in multijurisdictional investigations as well as corporate governance and data privacy best practices. Michael Malarkey (mmalarkey@forensicrisk.com) is the managing partner of FRA’s Washington DC operations. Carlo Miani (cmiani@forensicrisk.com) is an associate there.

The referendum on 23 June, in which the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, has already created significant uncertainty in the markets, provoked currency fluctuations, and fuelled discussions about policy reform across the EU as well as the future of the financial services sector in the UK. As debate shifts to activation of article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon and exit negotiations, international financial services businesses should expect policy changes in a number of areas and not forget to monitor the data privacy space.