• Daniel Döderlein, Founder and CEO at AUKA


• 03.10.2016 10:15 am
Banks

Of all parties, UK banks have the most to lose and also potentially to gain as a result of Theresa May's Article 50 trigger announcement. 

On the one hand, they have over a year's worth of PSD2 compliance to get ready for. On the other, although Theresa May has stated that initially all EU laws will be converted to UK versions and then slowly adapted or removed, they may decide to lobby against being made to completely overhaul their infrastructure to meet rules which, come March 2019, will no longer technically apply to them.

We know that English fintech has never been as strong as it is now and you can bet that these companies will be screaming and shouting for PSD2's access to APIs to go ahead - in fact, their very future, for the most part, depends on it.

As for banks operated from the current remainder of the EU: they'll probably be hoping London banks decide to stay where they are and keep operating as they were - less competition for them.

So, there are a few key parties - UK fintechs, UK based retail banks and EU competitor banks - all with different agendas. Whom the PM seeks to best please remains to be seen.

Personally, I think banks and fintechs are doomed if they have to operate from the UK without access to the single market and poor taxation rules. Some banks have started to realise this and are making plans to set up office elsewhere. UK fintechs will also get hurt, and if they don't get some single (PSD2) access, they'll have to move to get their license inside the EU... And that may leave Level 39 empty.