Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK GDP of the treatment of financial services in the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement will help unlock investment and protect high value jobs right across the UK, from financial services through to car manufacturing. And, we will now take full advantage of the fantastic opportunities available to us as an independent trading nation, striking trade deals with other partners around the world.

For financial services specifically, the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement gives legal certainty, with commitments on market access and fair treatment. It provides a stable foundation for us to develop a constructive and engaged relationship with the EU on financial services, as sovereign equals. Importantly we have also agreed with the EU that we will establish an MoU setting out the parameters for our regulatory cooperation. It is the first free trade agreement the EU has ever reached based on zero tariffs and zero quotas, which will provide benefits for jobs, investment and profitability in the financial services sector.

The government has also taken further action which complements the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement and will facilitate the productivity and profitability of the financial services sector. To promote openness and provide clarity and stability for industry, the Government announced multiple equivalence decisions for EEA Member States where it made sense for the UK to do so.

The UK has long been a global hub, leader and pioneer in financial services and the Government has an ambitious strategy to strengthen our world-leading financial centre now that we have left the EU. This is centred upon building long-lasting financial partnerships around the world, maintaining the high regulatory standards that make the UK an attractive place to do business, and being at the forefront of innovation so we can create and seize opportunities in the markets of the future.