Brexit and the battle for financial services

This paper analyses the policy developments concerning the Single Market in finance in the
context of Brexit. Theoretically, we engage with two bodies of work that make contrasting
predictions on European financial market integration and the development of European
Union (EU)policies on financial regulation: on focused upon a neo-mercantilist ‘battle’
amongst member states and the other stressing the importance of transnational financial
networks (or coalitions). Empirically, we find limited evidence of the formation of crossnational
alliances in favour of the United Kingdom (UK) retaining broad access to the EU
Single Market in financial services, the presence of which would have aligned with the
expectations of analyses focused upon transnational networks. By contrast, the main financial
centres in the EU27 and their national authorities competed to lure financial business away
from the UK — what we explain in terms of a ‘battle’ amongst member states and their
national financial centres.