On 20 July 2020, the House of Lords EU Services Sub-Committee published a letter it has sent to City Minister John Glen MP about UK-EU equivalence decisions, future UK-EU regulatory cooperation and the Government’s plans for financial services, particularly the role for Parliament in the future regulatory framework. The letter follows Mr Glen’s appearance before the Sub-Committee on 2 July 2020 on the UK-EU negotiations in financial services and UK financial services after Brexit.

Among other things the Sub-Committee’s letter asks:

• Given the EU not completing its equivalence assessments by June does that mean the Government’s own equivalence decisions should not be expected until autumn and that these will only be published alongside the EU’s decisions?
• The Government has repeatedly called for the creation of a “structured dialogue” with the EU on financial services, as have both UK and EU industry groups. However, in a speech given on 30 June, Michel Barnier reaffirmed the EU’s position that there should only be a “voluntary framework for dialogue” on financial services. How would such a voluntary framework differ from the structured dialogue being proposed by the Government?