Technical discussions between the EU and the UK on ground rules for their future relationship in financial services have now concluded. The UK Government announced that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) creates the framework for voluntary regulatory cooperation in financial services between the two sides.

Both sides still need to take some formal steps before the agreement is signed but the UK Treasury said, “it is expected that this can be done expeditiously.” It’s understood individual member states will also need to approve the MoU.

The MoU does not give the UK access to the EU’s financial services market; rather it creates a platform via the Joint EU-UK Financial Regulatory Forum to discuss financial services issues in the future.