The scale of disruption that Brexit could cause in the City of London has been revealed by figures showing that 5,500 UK-registered companies rely on “passports” to do business in other European countries.
More than 8,000 financial services companies based in the EU or the European Economic Area rely on single-market passports to do business in Britain, according to figures published by the UK financial regulator.
There are growing fears in the industry that when it leaves the EU, the UK will lose the passporting rights that allow financial services companies licensed in one EU state to work across the bloc, rather than having to win licences in individual countries.