Commissioner Mairead McGuinness's visit to London

Commissioner Mairead McGuinness's visit to London

On 26th September 2024 Commissioner for Financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union Mairead McGuinnesstravelled to London. EU Ambassador to the UK Pedro Serrano was delighted to welcome the Commissioner to Europe House, ahead of her meeting with Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Economic Secretary to the Treasury Tulip Siddiq, where they discussed developments in financial services.

The discussion included:

• The importance of maintaining financial stability and how it guides all our work;
• EU and UK working together on shared objectives including the implementation of sanctions against Russia and tackling financial crime via our AML/CFT frameworks;
• Pensions and investments - societally important for citizens in retirement but also important to finance our common challenges;
• Financial literacy and financial inclusion - key to unlocking how money is used and how it can empower people, in particular women;
• Digital finance - its merits for the financial sector and citizens but also the potential risks for both;
• Sustainable finance - how the strategic goals of climate and biodiversity can sit alongside competitiveness objectives;
• Broadening and deepening European capital markets to keep European companies in Europe.

In the afternoon, Commissioner McGuinness travelled to Cambridge where she delivered a Brian Lenihan Memorial Lecture at Sidney Sussex College, on the her experience and vision for Ireland, the EU and their relationship with the UK.

This was her fourth trip to the United Kingdom during her mandate, which reflects the good cooperation between our two jurisdictions in financial services. It is likely that this was also the last visit of a Commissioner to the UK before the new Commission begins its mandate.

The EU and UK trade around €80bn worth of financial services every year. A forum for regulatory cooperation in the field meets regularly at the level of services to facilitate structured dialogue on issues of common interest. For more information click here.