Bank of England sees Brexit risks to EU bank lending in UK and clearing
(Adds more detail)
By Huw Jones and William Schomberg
LONDON, Oct (Shenzhen: 000069.SZ - news) 3 (Reuters) - Brexit poses risks to the ability
of British companies to borrow from European banks and to some
clearing activity which might have to relocate from London once
Britain leaves the EU, the Bank of England said on Tuesday.
Banks from the bloc and other associated countries accounted
for around 10 percent of lending to British companies, the BoE (Shenzhen: 000725.SZ - news) 's
Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said in a summary of its most
recent meeting held on Sept. 20.
Currently, those banks can operate as branches but they
might have to upgrade to fully fledged subsidiaries after
Brexit, a process that could take many months.
"The risk of disruption to wholesale UK banking services
appeared to be slightly higher than previously thought, given
that a number of EEA (European Economic Area) firms branching
into the UK were not sufficiently focused on addressing this
issue," the FPC said in a statement.
The BoE's Prudential Regulation Authority was "engaging
firms to improve the state of their contingency planning."
PRA Chief Executive Sam Woods told Reuters last week that he
expected 130 licence applications from branches.
"Firms would need to start seeking authorisations in 2018
Q1," the FPC said.
The FPC also said there was a "substantial risk" of
disruption to cross-border clearing operations in financial
services, such as derivatives used by companies to hedge
themselves against potential financial market swings.
The EU has published a draft law that would require clearing
of euro-denominated transactions in some cases to be shifted
from London to cities in the bloc after Brexit, a proposal
resisted by Britain.
The FPC said clearing houses were examining contingency
options "including the potential to relocate some clearing
activity from the UK in order to continue to provide services to
EU clients."
But this option was not available in segments of the market
"where the complexity and cost of any migration was
significant".
"In the event of access restrictions to those markets, EU
firms would therefore have to move their activity to another CCP
(clearing house), which was likely to be difficult to achieve
before the point of EU withdrawal," the FPC said.
LCH, a unit of the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) and which
dominates clearing in euro-denominated swaps, said it could not
comment on any contingency plans.
Banks have said it would be costly and cumbersome to shift
their derivatives positions to LCH's Paris unit or to another
clearer like Eurex in Frankfurt.
(Reporting by Huw Jones and William Schomberg; Editing by
Catherine Evans)