According to what was announced by "Reuters", Great Britain and the United States have agreed on a long-term pact on Monday to ensure that the $ 2 trillion a day of the transatlantic derivatives market - complex financial instruments that - are not interrupted by any kind of Brexit.
Christopher Giancarlo, chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trade Commission, said the agreement has reiterated London's status as a global financial center. Derivatives are widely used by companies to protect themselves from contingencies in terms of loan costs, currencies or commodity prices.
Mark Carney said at a press conference that “Market participants can be confident that UK-US derivatives clearing and trading will maintain today's high standards when the UK leaves the EU. ".
Financial regulators in the US and UK told reporters that trading and clearing of derivatives transactions in London and New York, which account for 80% of the world's over-the-counter contracts, will continue to follow the same rules too. after Brexit.
Just over a month after Brexit, it is still unclear whether Britain will leave the EU with a transition agreement, to minimize economic disruption, or leave without agreement.
The steps announced on Monday by the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority and the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission aim to ensure the markets that derivatives will not be stopped even in the event of a tough Brexit.
Giancarlo Christopher said the measures provide a "bridge on Brexit" based on a long-term regulatory framework that will allow the burgeoning transatlantic derivatives market to continue and resist, which will come into force regardless of the form the Brexit will take and for a long life ".
The transatlantic agreement concerns both the negotiation and the clearing of derivatives by companies such as the LCH compensation arm of the London Stock Exchange, CME and ICE. "It is an important signal that we intend to continue this cooperation," said Andrew Bailey, managing director of the British Financial Conduct Authority.
Scott O'Malia, head of the ISDA, the global derivatives industry, said the pact would help ensure the safe and efficient functioning of the market. The EU has also taken steps to ensure that a no-deal Brexit would not freeze cross-border derivative clearing, given that LCH dominates the compensation of euro-denominated interest rate swaps.
Catherine McGuinness, Head of Policy for the City of London Financial District, said it was crucial that EU regulators urgently address other unresolved issues of "Brexit", such as continuity of derivative contracts. In the meantime, the EU is strengthening the requirements for foreign clearing houses that want to serve EU customers by insisting that they can tell them what to do in the event of a crisis, a step in which Britain and the United States are resisting, providing so a widely shared thought that sees this attempt as an action aimed at forcing some derivatives companies to move to the EU.