UK risking EU market access in bank rule fight, warns commissioner

The EU’s top financial services official warned the UK it won’t be allowed to pick and mix its relationship with the EU and must accept rules governing the City of London in exchange for access to the single market.

Michel Barnier, the EU commissioner responsible for proposing financial laws, stepped into the UK’s debate over its relationship with the bloc, saying a more nationalised approach to financial regulation is “the wrong cause to fight for”.

“By definition, there can’t be two single markets: one for financial services and one for the rest of the economy; one for the city, and one for the rest of the EU,” Barnier told a conference of industry representatives and policy makers in London.