REGULATORY EQUIVALENCE HITS POLITICAL BUFFERS

The UK’s bid to agree regulatory equivalence in financial services is being hampered by a dispute over fishing rights, according to Reuters. France is seeking to delay the ratification of a cooperation agreement in financial services between the EU and the UK due to disputes over fishing rights, the newswire said. “I don’t think equivalence is particularly an issue as we don’t think there is going to be any equivalence being granted by the EU,” Nick Collier, the City of London’s representative in Brussels told the UK Trade and Business Commission of lawmakers and industry representatives. The EU wants to build up its own capital market, Collier said. Equivalence would require the UK to follow some EU rules, but the Bank of England has warned that the UK should not seek equivalence at all costs.