Reference no: EM133085917

After Britain's momentous vote on June 23rd, 2016 to leave the European Union (EU), which is commonly referred as "Brexit", the country that wants to leave must invoke Article 50 under the Lisbon treaty that came into force in 2009. Under Article 50 it is for the other 27 countries in EU to decide, by majority vote and without British participation, the terms of Britain's exit. The article sets a two-year deadline for this process, which can be extended only by unanimous agreement of all 27 countries. If no deal is agreed in that time, Britain would cease to be an EU member and revert to trading with the EU on normal World Trade Organization rules. The Government of the United Kingdom triggered Article 50 to begin the UK's withdrawal from the EU in March 2017 following a referendum, and the withdrawal was scheduled to occur on 29 March 2019. The deadline had been extended a couple of times, there had been challenging negotiations over Britain's new trade relationship with the EU, and the new rules for trade would also have to be approved by all 27 remaining EU members and ratified by their national parliaments (and the European Parliament). Finally, years of bargaining in the British Parliament, seizures at the top of the government and pleas for EU to delay its exit, Britain stopped being a member of the European Union on December 31, 2020 and began an 11-month transition in which it continues to abide by the EU rules and regulations while deciding what type of Brexit deal to pursue. Meanwhile Britain will still need to negotiate over new trade deals separately with numerous other countries around the world. That process could take many years if not many months.

From 23:00 GMT on 31 December 2020, the UK-EU trade agreement, which contains new rules for living, working and trading together, took effect officially.

Here are some of the key points of the new UK-EU agreement.

TRADE: There will be no taxes on goods (tariffs) or limits on the amount that can be traded (quotas) between the UK and the EU from 1 January Some new checks will be introduced at borders, such as safety checks and customs declarations. There are some new restrictions on certain UK animal food products.

SERVICES AND QUALIFICATIONS: Businesses offering services, such as banking, architecture and accounting, will lose their automatic right of access to EU markets and will face some restrictions. There will no longer be automatic recognition of professional qualifications for people such as doctors, chefs and architects.

FISHING Over the next five-and-a-half years, the UK will gradually gain a greater share of the fish from its own waters. The UK could choose to ban EU fishing boats from 2026, but the EU would be allowed to introduce taxes on British fish in response.

Question: Investigate and discuss the effect of Brexit on Banking & Financial Services