Despite potential issues, the FinTech sector is set to benefit from Brexit according to leading FinTech provider Trusek. Comment Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Trusek, Steve Hatton.

Trusek, which provides a FinTech software platform to give growth businesses a faster route to market, is highlighting the potential benefits of Brexit for the FinTech sector as the Prime Minister triggers Article 50 this week, formally starting the process of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Trusek, Steve Hatton said: “As we enter the negotiations we do so with the understanding that, in all likelihood, it will be two years until Brexit is finalised and we have actually left. “Much has been said about the impact of Brexit across all sectors, including financial services overall, and the FinTech space as well, but many focus on the negatives. Whilst passporting rules will be an important factor in the negotiations, and harm could be caused to the sector with the wrong deal, there are also many potential positive impacts of Brexit on the FinTech industry.” He highlights potential positive affects of Brexit:

Regulation
Under the current relationship, with the UK being a full member of the EU, the financial services sector is required to comply with all EU regulations. Not all regulations within this framework are favourable to FinTechs in the UK, and while it is likely that UK financial regulations will have to comply with the majority of EU-based legislation, Brexit will provide more freedom. This will mean that, while bearing in mind that the UK would still want to trade with the EU, it will be able to choose which regulations to implement depending on the impacts they will have on the financial services and FinTech sectors in the UK.

Immigration
While the UK is a member of the European Union, free movement of people means that anyone from any European country can choose to work in the UK without a visa. It’s widely commented that one of the main reasons for the leave vote was to remove this freedom of movement, and limit immigration into the UK. It is therefore clear that one important red line for the Brexit negotiations will be immigration controls from the EU, and this will provide the UK with the ability to prioritise which migrants to allow into the country, depending on the sectors and skills they have. While we still have a skills gap in the UK for workers in the FinTech industry, including developers, this will mean that migrants will continue to play an important role in the sector moving forward.

Investment and government support
The British FinTech sector generated £6.6bn in revenues in 2015, so the industry is a vital part of the UK economy. As the UK leaves the EU it is therefore in the interests of the treasury.