LONDON: London Stock Exchange Group Plc has set up a Brexit unit to advise policymakers on how to protect London as a financial hub and prevent the divorce shattering financial-market infrastructure.
The program, which UK regulators asked LSE to set up, will engage with British and European officials to guide them on Brexit’s impact on markets. LSE’s goal is to keep continuity of cross-border financial services, and prevent financial-market fragmentation.
“Shortly after the referendum as we had predicted, this became a political issue,” LSE chief Xavier Rolet said on a conference call after the company reported first-half revenue of 853 million pounds ($1.1 million; Dh4.04 million) and raised its dividend. “The evidence strongly suggests that maintaining the status quo will be not just the best option but the only option.”
When Britain voted to leave the EU a year ago, LSE’s clearing unit quickly became the focus of European politicians seeking to lure business from post-Brexit London. Rolet has been a vocal critic of European calls to force the relocation of clearing, a profitable business for the exchange and a key battleground for the financial-services industry.
Clearing houses collect collateral and stand between traders to prevent a default from spiralling out of control, and their role has become increasingly entrenched since the 2008 financial crisis.
The European Commission recommended in June that clearing houses based outside the EU but deemed systematic to European markets should face direct oversight from the bloc’s regulators. The commission left itself the option of stripping euro clearing from London. The European Parliament and EU member states will assess the proposals after the summer.
Total income at LCH, the clearing unit, amounted to 270 million pounds in the first half, up 31 per cent from a year earlier.
Investors remains confident in LSE’s growth prospects regardless of the regulatory environment, mostly because the company will benefit from mandatory central clearing and increased demand for benchmarks, analytics and data products, according to Peter K. Lenardos, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in London. He reiterated his outperform rating.
