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10/23/2020

Joint Statement on UK-U.S. Financial Regulatory Working Group Meeting | U.S. Department of the Treasury

Joint Statement on UK-U.S. Financial Regulatory Working Group
Meeting
October 22, 2020

WASHINGTON – UK and U.S. participants held the third meeting of the UK-U.S. Financial
Regulatory Working Group (Working Group) virtually on October 20, 2020. The Working
Group was formed in 2018 to deepen bilateral regulatory cooperation with a view to the
further promotion of financial stability; investor protection; fair, orderly, and e icient
markets; and capital formation in both jurisdictions. This Working Group meeting was the
first since the United Kingdom le the European Union. Cooperation between the UK and
United States continues to be important, particularly in light of COVID-19 and the UK’s
withdrawal from the European Union.
Participants included o icials and senior sta from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and
HM Treasury, and from the U.S. and UK independent regulatory agencies, including the Board
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Commodity Futures Trading Commission,
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, O ice of Comptroller of the Currency, Securities and
Exchange Commission, the Bank of England, and the Financial Conduct Authority. U.S. and
UK participants shared views on issues in their respective areas of responsibility.
The Working Group meeting focused on five key themes: (1) the economic response to, and
potential financial stability impacts of, the COVID-19 crisis, (2) international cooperation and
2021 priorities, (3) cross-border rules and overseas recognition/equivalence/substituted
compliance regimes, (4) sustainable finance, and (5) financial innovation.
At the meeting, UK and U.S. participants discussed the economic response to, and potential
financial stability impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. Participants also discussed the outlook for
financial regulatory reforms and future priorities, including possible areas for deeper
bilateral and multilateral regulatory cooperation to further facilitate safe and e icient
financial services activity between U.S. and UK markets, and provided updates on certain
aspects of their respective domestic frameworks.
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10/23/2020

Joint Statement on UK-U.S. Financial Regulatory Working Group Meeting | U.S. Department of the Treasury

Participants took stock of ongoing public and private sector e orts in relation to benchmark
transition, and provided updates on their respective cross-border rules, overseas
recognition, equivalence, and substituted compliance regimes. Participants also welcomed
the announcement of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Bank of
England and CFTC regarding supervisory cooperation in relation to UK and U.S. central
counterparties that operate on a cross-border basis. Participants also acknowledged the
success of this summer’s UK-U.S. Financial Innovation Partnership meeting and discussed
further actions to deepen UK and U.S. ties in financial innovation, their respective
approaches to digital payments, and cross-border data issues.
On insurance, participants discussed implementation of the U.S.-UK Covered Agreement,
next steps for the U.S.-UK Insurance Project, and the UK and U.S. insurance regulatory
responses to the COVID-19 crisis. Sustainable finance was also a topic of discussion at the
Working Group, with the UK discussing its future priorities, including its climate-related
financial sector work and regulatory and supervisory approach to climate change, along with
private sector-led disclosure e orts. U.S. participants outlined private sector e orts to
mitigate climate-related risks.
Participants also took stock of the Working Group’s achievements to date and recognized
that the UK-U.S. financial regulatory relationship and Working Group discussions will be
entering a new phase a er the UK’s transition out of the European Union is complete.
Participants identified follow-up work for the Working Group on the above topics and other
priority issues. Participants will continue to engage bilaterally on these topics, as well as
other topics of mutual interest ahead of the next Working Group meeting, which is expected
to take place in the first half of 2021.
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