London Brexit decision seen as bad for Ireland

The City of London’s powerful lobbying group has reluctantly given up on its lobbying efforts to keep full access to the EU, a sign which is being interpreted here as a further signal that the UK is heading for a hard Brexit that would be bad for the Irish economy.

Business group TheCityUK yesterday called for limited market access for some finance sectors based on a pact in which the UK and the EU would accept each other’s rules.

Such an “equivalence” arrangement would keep the door open for cross-border trading of stocks and bonds, and sales of certain other products.