Philip Hammond will seek to reassure banking bosses about the UK’s plans for leaving the EU on Wednesday, holding the first in a series of meetings to hear concerns from business leaders.
The chancellor will host top banking executives including Santander’s UK chair, Lady Vadera, a Labour Treasury minister during the 2008 crash. Vadera has been drafted in by the British Bankers’ Association to lead a taskforce to minimise the risks to the City of leaving the EU.
Members of taskforce, the European Financial Services Chairman’s Advisory Committee, are meeting Hammond on Wednesday. Key figures in the group include bosses from Morgan Stanley, Nationwide, Aviva and Allianz Global Investors.
The group is said to be keen for the UK to pursue a Swiss model post-Brexit, which would allow certain sectors the right to access the single market if they follow EU regulations.
Banks are particularly concerned about their business strategies which rely on EU “passporting” for financial services, which allow them to operate across the bloc from a London base. Further discussions are also taking place with other government departments, including David Davis’s Department for Exiting the European Union.
Hammond will host meetings with a number of different industry bodies in the weeks leading up to the autumn statement, including importers and exporters and representatives from technology, retail and manufacturing industries.
He will also host the Confederation of Business Industry, a key backer of the remain campaign in the EU referendum, the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chambers of Commerce.
The Treasury said the chancellor hoped to cover “almost every aspect of the economy” and said he would listen to contributions on the future of the UK outside the EU and how the government could support their industries.
Hammond said the government wanted “to ensure the continued investment that creates jobs and supports wage growth throughout this period of uncertainty ahead of the UK formally leaving the European Union”.
He said: “That means listening to businesses and organisations who represent working people all over the country, and taking the necessary steps to maintain economic stability.
“From manufacturing to new technology, exporters to small businesses, I am determined that industry and government work together to ensure that Britain takes full advantage of the opportunities Brexit presents. That means engaging in open and constructive dialogue with business leaders in the months ahead.”
