UK Warns of Threats to EU Investment Funds In Case of No-Deal Brexit – Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The United Kingdom has warned the EU negotiators that some 7,000 European investment funds will face problems in the country if the bloc refuses to continue existing cooperation with the City of London companies, The Guardian newspaper reported on Monday.

The United Kingdom will introduce restrictions on the EU financial institutions if the bloc does not grant privileges to the City of London, The Guardian reported, citing a UK presentation for the European Commission’s negotiators last week.

The presentation pointed out that London and Brussels shout think fresh about the process of Brexit in order to avoid damaging barriers to trade.

READ MORE: UK Trade Secretary: No-Deal Brexit Better Than Extension of Talks

According to the newspaper, the EU financial funds are likely to continue their work in the United Kingdom but will face additional regulatory hurdles.

On Thursday, the European Commission's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, met with UK Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab to discuss their sides' respective positions on the Brexit white paper after it was published by the UK government on July 24. After the meeting, Barnier said that the challenges the two sides still faced were the finalization of the outstanding issues of the withdrawal agreement, including the Irish border, and reaching an agreement on a political declaration of the future UK-EU relations.

On July 20, Barnier urged the EU member states to speed up preparations for all possible Brexit scenarios, including a no-deal scenario.

The European Union does not want to provide the United Kingdom with an individual deal on financial services saying that the future relations in the financial sphere should not differ from the EU-US ties. London insists that such a scenario of Brexit will result in losses for both parties.

READ MORE: EU, UK Agree on 80% of Brexit Deal, Including Citizens' Rights — Negotiator

The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a referendum in 2016. The Brexit negotiations officially started in June 2017 and are expected to be completed by the end of March 2019.