Written by Brandon Wong

HM Treasury published a press release on 26 March 2021 confirming that technical discussions on the text of the UK-EU Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have concluded.  This follows the Joint Declaration on Financial Services Regulatory Cooperation that committed to agreeing a MoU on the framework for structured regulatory cooperation, which was published alongside the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) in December 2020. 

In its press release, HM Treasury states that further steps must be undertaken by both sides before the MoU can be signed, though this is expected to be done expeditiously.  The text of the final version of the MoU has not yet been published.

The MoU will create the framework for voluntary regulatory cooperation in financial services between the UK and the EU and will establish the Joint UK-EU Financial Regulatory Forum serving as a platform to facilitate dialogue on financial services issues.