Bulletin: Ratings And Negative Outlook On The U.K. Not Immediately Affected By EC Recommendation To Open Phase Two Talks

LONDON (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 8, 2017--S&P Global Ratings said today that the ratings and outlook on the U.K. (unsolicited; AA/Negative/A-1+) are not immediately affected by the European Commission's (EC) recommendation to open the next stage of Brexit negotiations. The EC has announced that the U.K. has made "sufficient progress" in the first phase of the Brexit talks, which now paves the way for the European Council to formally open the next phase in its summit on Dec. 14 and 15. The EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has signaled that a final withdrawal agreement will have to be reached by October 2018. There could be additional time to negotiate the U.K.'s future trade relationship with the EU if a transitional

...LONDON (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 8, 2017--S&P Global Ratings said today that the ratings and outlook on the U.K. (unsolicited; ##/Negative/A-1+) are not immediately affected by the European Commission's (EC) recommendation to open the next stage of Brexit negotiations. The EC has announced that the U.K. has made "sufficient progress" in the first phase of the Brexit talks, which now paves the way for the European Council to formally open the next phase in its summit on Dec. 14 and 15. The EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has signaled that a final withdrawal agreement will have to be reached by October 2018. There could be additional time to negotiate the U.K.'s future trade relationship with the EU if a transitional arrangement is agreed. The process of negotiating a trade arrangement with the European Union could require several years, raising uncertainty for businesses operating in the U.K. Nor is there any certainty that the U.K.'s highly competitive services sector would retain...

Bulletin