Brexit: What does it mean for asset managers?

The European Union (EU) is made up of 28 member states committed, through a series of treaties, to ever closer economic and political union. As such it exercises considerable power, both internally and internationally. It is also very bureaucratic and its policies are often influenced by the agendas of individual member states. Over the years, this has caused a good deal of controversy and in the 2015 UK general election the Conservative Party promised (i) to renegotiate the terms of the UK’s membership of the EU and (ii) thereafter to hold a referendum in which the UK public would be asked to vote on whether they wished to remain in the EU.

The Conservatives were re-elected on 7 May 2015 and on 19 February 2016 Prime Minister David Cameron duly announced that (i) he had reached an agreement with the other 27 leaders of the EU (the Agreement) for a revised relationship between the EU and the UK, and (ii) the promised referendum would be held on 23 June 2016.

This OnPoint looks at the legal basis for David Cameron’s agreement and the legal process for a UK withdrawal in the event of a “no” vote. It goes on to look at the implications of such a withdrawal for asset managers (wherever located) and their sales of products and services.

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