LSE Group May Partially Shift Debt Trade From UK To Italy Over Brexit - Reports

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) is considering partial relocation of bonds trade from London to Milan over the planned UK withdrawal from the European Union, local media reported on Monday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th November, 2018) The London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) is considering partial relocation of bonds trade from London to Milan over the planned UK withdrawal from the European Union, local media reported on Monday.

According to the Financial Times newspaper, starting from March only the UK government and banks will use the London-based branch of MTS Cash venue, owned by the LSE, while other European countries will have access to MTS Cash via new venues in Milan.

"This will allow MTS to continue to service its clients regardless of the outcome of the negotiations between the European Commission and the UK government," Fabrizio Testa, chief executive of MTS, said, as quoted by the newspaper.

Milan was chosen by LSE as Italy is the biggest sovereign debt market in the Eurozone, according to the media outlet.

The MTS Cash is used by more than 10 EU countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal.

It is also used by Israel.

The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a referendum in June 2016 and is expected to do so by late March 2019 despite a number of stumbling blocks that impede talks, namely, the Irish border and the post-Brexit UK-EU economic relations.

Following more than a year of tough talks on Brexit conditions, London and Brussels finally completed a draft agreement on Tuesday. Late on Wednesday, EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier revealed the contents of the provisional deal, which included agreements on citizens' rights, London's financial settlement, future trade relations, transitional period in the London-Brussels relations and the Irish border issue, among other things.