"There are greater storms in politics than you will ever find at sea. Piracy, broadsides, blood on the decks. You will find them all in politics."  —David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister, 1916-1922

"The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests" —Epictetus

Lloyd George and Epictetus may be long gone but their words have much resonance with the events of 2016. The political fallout from the UK's vote to leave the European Union ("EU") was immediate and brutal and Lloyd George's words above could have been written for the events in the UK in the aftermath of the vote. Prime Minister David Cameron resigned immediately and Theresa May became the new UK Prime Minister after a short and dramatic Conservative Party leadership election contest.  The new UK government has had to plot a course for the UK to negotiate its exit from the EU, regarded by many commentators as likely to be one of the most complex political and trade negotiations ever attempted. And this in a continuing febrile political environment with many Brexit supporters suspicious that the UK government will strike a deal with the EU that will neuter the effect of Brexit, many businesses and financial institutions concerned that a "hard" Brexit could result in a swift loss of access to the EU single market and many EU politicians keen that a hard line should be taken against the UK in negotiations to deter other member states from leaving.

As if that wasn't enough, the election in November of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States shocked not only the political establishment in the US but almost the entire world. Again, despite some initial jitters, financial markets have remained relatively stable in the aftermath of his election but considerable uncertainty surrounds the direction of the new administration with President-elect Trump having made inconsistent statements on the stump, at times espousing protectionist views on trade whilst calling for less financial regulation and greater fiscal stimulus. We should have more clarity on some of these issues in the coming months.

Despite the uncertainty caused by the events of 2016, we expect the implementation of the new post-financial global regulatory framework to continue. However, the direction of travel is perhaps now more uncertain than it has been for a while. In the article in the following link, we highlight the principal areas of financial regulation and other important events impacting on financial regulation in the EU that have impacted markets over the recent past, as well as how we see these areas developing in 2017 and beyond.

To access a copy, click here.

Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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