Bankers talk of being sold out as London waits for its own Brexit deal with Brussels

Bankers talk of being sold out as London waits for its own Brexit deal with Brussels

Despite a breakthrough last month, London-based bankers are nervously waiting for Britain and Brussels to agree on a post-Brexit relationship for their financial services industries.The U.K. and the EU agreed to continue talks and co-operation on financial services on March 26. In a short statement, the U.K. and the EU announced they had concluded technical negotiations regarding a "memorandum of understanding" for the industry, creating a framework for "voluntary regulatory cooperation."The document was widely anticipated to be released before the end of March and still needs formal sign off, a matter which "can be done expeditiously" as per the released text. But despite this, bankers who have spoken to CNBC feel the industry has continually been neglected throughout Brexit talks and they're not confident the agreement changes the outlook, especially as regulatory cooperation will be voluntary and not binding on the EU. The U.K. Treasury did not respond this specifically, but directed CNBC to its statement regarding the memorandum of understanding.

Financial services make up 7% of the U.K.'s total output, and 10% of government tax receipts, but the industry was not a part of the "zero tariff-zero quota deal" concluded on Dec. 24, as the matter was being negotiated separately. The EU so far has not committed