EU to grant temporary market access for UK derivatives clearers

LONDON (Reuters) – The London Stock Exchange and other derivatives clearing houses in Britain will be granted temporary access to investors in the European Union from January, the bloc’s executive European Commission said on Thursday.

Britain left the EU in January and continues to have full access until the end of December, with future access in financial services dependent on whether the bloc finds that UK rules are “equivalent” to its own.

“The European Commission intends to adopt a time-limited equivalence decision for the United Kingdom for central clearing counterparties of derivatives,” the EU executive said in a statement.

“This decision is being taken to address the possible risks to financial stability related to the specific area of derivatives clearing.”

(Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Marc Jones)