Mr. Gerry Cross:

I am sure the witnesses at the previous session were very articulate about this, but one of the complexities is that all this is happening during a period of great uncertainty. If we knew what the political deal would be at the end, life would be a lot easier for everyone, but we are all trying to manage that uncertainty. The committee will have heard this but what we are seeing is that many firms in industry are acting on the basis that they are hoping for the best but planning for the worst. That is probably a reasonable approach. The UK remains a member of the EU until it no longer is.

It is not for me to talk at all about the political level.

At the supervisory level in supervisory authorities, I see the UK remaining a very committed participant in the conversations and remaining very engaged. In this context, we are trying to work on the right and best solutions. The UK sees itself as very much having a stake in the supervisory solutions. We must remember that these entities are currently in the UK and are moving part of their activities to Europe. At the end of the day, in many cases those activities will still be part of a wider group which has a home in the UK. There are some conversations of which the UK will not be a part. In many respects, there remains important interests and we must get the right answers in terms of what is good quality supervision in these cases.