119th Brussels for Breakfast: Reflections on the post-Summit Brexit discussion at `B4B’

23 March 2016

The major topic of Brussels for Breakfast debate was unpacking the implications of a Brexit for financial services directly, along with other relevant issues such as the Canadian "free trade" deal and the US/EU Financial Dialogue.

Organised by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), with Graham Bishop and Nicolas Veron (Bruegel/Brussels and Petersen Institute/Washington).


Note: As the meeting began, we were receiving reports about a bomb explosion in Brussels but the full magnitude of the horror was not evident until after the meeting. Our collective hearts go out to all those affected, and may yet hear of friends effected - especially given the attack on the Maalbeek metro station which so many of us use frequently.

The previous B4B meeting took place as the fateful (and marathon) Brexit Summit meeting in February was about to start so it was inevitable that the major topic yesterday was unpacking the implications for financial services directly, but the Brexit referendum more generally. [...]

We covered the two formal reports from the Government: “Alternatives to Membership” link and “The process for withdrawing from the EU” link. Both these reports should make sobering reading for those who claim `leaving’ will be a quick and simple process as the Government argued that the process would lead to “up to a decade or more of uncertainty”. [...]

Full article available for consultancy clients here


© Graham Bishop