BoE Won’t Politicize Dealings with Foreign Clearing Houses

The Bank of England will not politicize how it supervises foreign clearing houses with confronting responses to whatever the European Union decides, a senior BoE official said on Monday.

Christina Segal-Knowles, the BoE’s executive director for financial market infrastructure, pointed out in a public consultation paper how the central bank will supervise foreign clearing houses offering their services to customers in Britain.

Britain is waiting to see if the E. U. will allow investors in the bloc to continue using London-based clearing houses after next June, when temporary, post-Brexit EU market access expires.

Market participants are urging the E. U. to explain in simple terms its intentions as soon as possible to avoid disruption as Brussels piles pressure on banks to shift clearing from London to Frankfurt.

Euro clearing has become highly politicized in Brussels as the bloc seeks to cut reliance on the London following Brexit.