At the end of March, EU and UK officials confirmed that they had agreed the contents for a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on financial services, which should lead to the creation of a Joint UK-EU Financial Regulatory Forum.
The two sides were aiming to have an MoU in place by end March, which will not carry the same status as a treaty or formal agreement. The UK had hoped for a more binding deal, but the EU does not want to compromise control of its internal market for financial services. Nonetheless, the MoU can be viewed as an achievement given the very strained relationship between the two sides over issues such as vaccines and the EU-UK land border in Ireland.
