Brexit: UK banks will lose 'passporting rights' after Britain leaves EU, Brussels says

British banks will lose "passporting rights" to do business in the European Union after Brexit, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator has said. Speaking in Brussels on Monday Michel Barnier said that "Brexit means Brexit, everywhere" and that there could be no opt-ins to parts of the single market for certain industries. “On financial services, UK voices suggest that Brexit does not mean Brexit. Brexit means Brexit, everywhere,” Mr Barnier said in a major speech to the Centre for European Reform think-tank.

Mr Barnier told the audience at the Centre for European Reform: “Those who claim that the UK should pick parts of the single market must stop this contradiction. The single market is a package, with four indivisible freedoms, common rules, institutions, and enforcement structures.

“The UK knows these rules very well, like the back of its hand. It has contributed to defining them over the last 44 years with a certain degree of influence. We took note of the UK decisions to end free movement of people and this means clearly that the UK will lose the benefits of the single market.