Post Brexit financial services free trade deal essential for expats

Without an agreement on passporting, British expats with investments and insurance are in trouble.

Leading city businesses are warning London will lose out to Singapore and New York unless a financial services free trade deal is negotiated. Key banks, fund managers and law firms based in the UK are proposing a one-off free trade deal to be brought in after Britain leaves the EU. The deal is the only way to ensure UK and EU-based financial firms can continue selling services and products free of quotas and taxes in each others’ markets.

With such a deal would come the establishment of a joint ‘dispute resolution body’ of independent experts and judges, responsible for ruling on agreement breaches. The proposed set-up would protect expat retirees as well as expat investors and consumers and allow cross-border pension payments to be made. A report suggesting a solution to these potentially serious problems has been compiled and presented in Brussels, with chair of the ISRG council Mark Hoban describing it as an ambitious but straightforward free trade proposal.

The elephant in this particular room is how the issue affects would-be expats making life-changing decisions about retirement or starting a new business overseas. Retirees on the UK state pension who’ve additional private pensions may well be seriously affected should a solution not be found, especially as another fall in sterling after Brexit is finalised is a strong possibility. Without a guarantee of legally accessible income, making the final decision to move overseas is at best a gamble.

Many British expat state pensioners with small personal pensions are finding it tough enough to manage with 15-20 per cent less than last year due to the pound’s lower value, and would be in serious trouble should they not be able to access their extra payments. Similarly, expat investors relying on returns to finance their lifestyles would be hard hit.

Tags: British expats with investments, financial services free trade deal, British expat state pensioners, straightforward free trade proposal, Retirees on UK state pension, fall in sterling, starting a new business overseas,