The chief executive of the UK’s Investment Association, the trade body for the funds industry, has welcomed a provisional Brexit deal agreed between the EU and the UK.
Chris Cummings said that the deal provided “welcome certainty to the investment management industry”.
On Thursday morning it was reported that a Brexit deal had been agreed between UK and EU negotiating teams with Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeting: “We’ve got a great new deal that takes back control.”
However, it is far from certain that the revised exit deal will be approved by the House of Commons.
Part of the deal includes Northern Ireland remaining in the UK’s customs territory, but the territory will continue to act as an entry point into the EU’s single market.
Cummings said: “This renegotiated deal provides the welcome certainty our country needs to safeguard the future of many industries including our own and the customers we serve. It will also ensure we retain our position as a world-leading centre for investment management which will be critical in the post-Brexit world.”
The deal, which some commenters have said is economically worse for the UK than the previous exit deal negotiated by Theresa May last year, will still need the approval of the UK and European parliaments.
Keith Wade, Schroders’ chief economist and strategist, said: “We do not have the full details as yet, but if the deal passes through Parliament on Saturday we should see stronger growth in the UK economy as the cloud of Brexit uncertainty lifts.
“Importantly this is a big step toward avoiding a no-deal Brexit where the UK would have crashed out of the EU possibly causing a damaging recession.
“There will still be some uncertainty about the UK’s future relationship with the EU, nonetheless the likelihood of avoiding a no-deal is increasing.”
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