David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, has promised financial services sector workers they will continue to be able to travel freely around Europe after Brexit.
Speaking at a conference hosted by banking giant UBS in London yesterday afternoon (14 November), Mr Davis said such an arrangement is possible because it is also in the interests of the European Union (EU) countries, who want to access the financial services infrastructure and liquidity of the City of London.
He said employees moving temporarily between different offices of the same employer should not be impacted by any change to immigration rules as a result of the UK leaving the EU in 2019.
The politician also said the UK is seeking a transition deal with the EU of up to two years, meaning that while the country might formally exit the economic bloc in 2019, nothing would change for that transition period.
He said: “Boards have to meet their fiduciary duties and investors need to make decisions critical to the future of their companies.”
Mr Davis added: “Without such an implementation period, some of these decisions would need to be taken in January 2018. That is why we want to agree this period as soon as the EU have a mandate to do so, which I believe can be done very early next year.”
It was announced by the government on 15 November that Parliament will get a vote on the final Brexit deal. If the deal is voted down by parliament, then the country exits with a “no deal” scenario.
David.Thorpe
