By David Milliken
LONDON (Reuters) – Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said he hoped there would be a “spirit of goodwill” between Britain and European Union countries regarding inevitable trade disruption when a post-Brexit transition period ends on Jan. 1.
Bailey told a European Central Bank panel discussion it was encouraging that trade talks were continuing between Britain and the EU, but that he was not in a position to judge the likely outcome, and that some disruption would be unavoidable.
“I would hope that if there is a trade agreement there will be a spirit of goodwill around this, and that some of the inevitable changes of processes that will disrupt things in terms of adjustments are managed smoothly,” he said.
“I’d be more concerned if there isn’t a trade deal because … that spirit of goodwill might not be there, frankly,” he added.
Bailey said Britain’s financial services sector was ready for the end of the transition period irrespective of whether there were any equivalence agreements on regulation with the EU.
(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Stephen Addison)
