By EACCNY member Georges Ugeux | CEO at Galileo Global Advisors and Adjunct professor Columbia Law School. “The clock stopped ticking. Today is a day of relief,” E.U. negotiator Michel Barnier said at a news conference in Brussels. “But tinted by some sadness, as we compare what came before with what lies ahead.” First of all, let’s salute the achievement and its authors. The dramatic breakthrough of the Brexit Trade Agreement is avoiding complete chaos of the export and imports of goods...

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Cautious optimism takes over in final negotiation weeks European citizens and businesses may find some additional gifts under their Christmas trees this year if all works out. Not only is the European Medicines Agency set to approve the first COVID-19 vaccine for Europe on Monday, but EU and UK negotiators may finally be close to agreeing the post-Brexit trade relationship. After months of growing pessimism on both sides of the English Channel over whether chief negotiators Michel Barnier and David...

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With the end of the Brexit transition period rapidly approaching and the United Kingdom (UK) poised to become a “third country” after it leaves the European Union (EU), the UK and the EU have yet to reach any “deal” on how the transfer of personal data should be dealt with starting January 1, 2021. With the negotiations deep into their final phase, the advice from regulators, including the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), is that organisations should be taking...

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Brexit negotiators aim to salvage a deal by Sunday After the post-Brexit negotiations reached its latest impasse, all eyes were on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen to break the deadlock this week. No deal was struck, and the negotiators have been given until Sunday to find an accord. In a week of political leadership, a high-level political dinner was called on Wednesday night to discuss how best to resolve the ongoing Brexit...

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In view of the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU on 1 February 2020 and the forthcoming end of the transitional period on 31 December 2020, the CSSF stated its expectations and rendered some clarifications through a press release published on 7 December 2020. 1) Termination of passporting rights The CSSF reminds market participants that passporting rights will be terminated as of 31 December 2020 at midnight and therefore be lost as of 1 January 2021. Passporting rights are...

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Banks From January 1st, 2021, UK banks will qualify as non-EU banks and relative provisions will apply. Accordingly, UK banks shall be authorized by the Bank of Italy to operate in Italy, through a branch or on a cross-border basis. In addition, UK banks may also be authorized to provide investment services (Bank of Italy having consulted Consob): towards retail and professional on request clients, only if a branch is established; towards eligible counterparties and per se professional clients, also on a cross border basis. If...

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