FCA: Banks should prepare for no deal | City A.M.

Banks should start preparing for a hard Brexit as the deadline to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU looms large, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said.

With just eight months until Brexit day – 29 March 2019 – the City’s watchdog has added its voice to the chorus of groups urging businesses to step up their plans for a no deal scenario.

Nausicaa Delfas, the FCA’s head of international strategy, this morning said “we all – regulators and industry – continue to plan for a range of scenarios”.

“Across the FCA, together with colleagues from the Bank of England and the government, we have been working to develop a number of safeguards and contingencies, in the event of a hard Brexit, to ensure that ‘day one’ works smoothly,” Delfas told an event held by TheCityUK, the BBC reported.

Her comments come as Brexit secretary Dominic Raab told MPs the UK government was planning to publish some of its guidance for a no deal scenario.

And the EU has published its seven-part guide for businesses warning of the likely changes and challenges a hard Brexit will bring.