Post-Brexit export drive hampered by UK trade finance regulations, ICC warns

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The UK Branch in the International Chamber of Commerce has warned that financial organizers in Britain fail to pay the vital reforms necessary to cancel the lock of about 22 billion pounds in the commercial financing of small companies.

In a letter to the financial behavior authority and the power regulation of the Bank of England, the International Criminal Court said that there is an “urgent need” for reforms for the regulations that govern trade financing, which is the key to international transactions insurance.

The message, which was seen in the Financial Times, warned that the “old” regulatory framework for commerce financing compensates for the benefits of a new law presented in 2023 to digitize the papers for export.

“These gains are denying through an old organizational framework that remains bureaucratic and ineffective, with hard compliance tests and heavy extra capital requirements,” wrote Chris Southworth, FCA CEO.

However, both FCA and PRA have pushed back against criticism, saying they have already suggested to reduce compliance rules and capital rules in the main areas of commercial financing.

The intervention of the International Criminal Court comes two weeks after the UK government deployed a commercial strategy that has promised to increase the country’s commercial performance since Britain has left the European Union.

The group was pressed in recent years to repair it from the bank’s capital bases Basel 3.1 and expressed its frustration that the organizers did not move quickly enough, despite the pressure of Chancellor Rachel Reeves this year until they took a more supportive position.

Soutoorth said the movements by the organizers to reformulate the regulations Basel 3.1 before the deadline for implementation at the beginning of 2027 were very slow and long -term.

He wrote, “Reforms and final dates are submitted to ensure the benefit of benefits in this parliament,” he wrote. “It is time for more ambition and an intelligent and more flexible organizational framework.”

The UK Criminal Court said, although it is a center for global trade financing, has failed to competitors, including Hong Kong, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, which “has more flexible and responsive organizational frameworks.”

She wants to see a lighter regulatory system, as the arduous “customer knowledge” rules have been simplified, and the threshold of capital requirements has been reduced to trade small and medium -sized companies. She said that this would help reduce the “Trade Finance Gap” of 22 billion pounds between the gap between the demand for commercial financing and the amount of financing already available.

FCA FT told that she was already considering mitigating her compliance rules of financial transactions. In response to Prime Minister Sir Kerr Starmer’s request for ideas to support economic growth and competitiveness, the authority said in January that it will discuss ways to relax on “anti -money laundering” checks on smaller transactions.

“Ly our message to the Prime Minister is one of the possible ways to reduce the costs of fighting money by laundering by relaxing the examination operations that learn about small transactions, “said FCA. “We are testing this idea with the government.”

PRA also rejected criticism, noting that she suggested reformulating bank capital requirements to reduce lending to small and medium -sized companies and commercial financing, which is partially dependent on the information provided by the International Criminal Court.

As announced earlier this year, we plan to implement the Basel 3.1 bases, including those related to commercial financing, on January 1, 2027, “said PRA. “This date was chosen to give companies enough to implement the final rules itself.”

“Our implementation of BASEL 3.1 is designed to reduce the burden on financing trade by reducing capital requirements for some relevant exposure, and merging the comments provided by the International Criminal Court during the consultation period,” added power.

The Ministry of Business and Trade said that its new commercial strategy will help the UK business success in the global market.

He added: “The United Kingdom is planning to implement these reforms in January 2027, which gives our companies certainty to plan for the future and allow more time for more clarity in the world.”