After Brexit Visa For Europe

Brexit is the term given to the referendum where the British public voted to leave Europe. This article talks about a visa for Europe that is issued to those who have citizenship of an EU country and those who don’t. It also talks about a special type of visa for America people with their own brand such as China, Russia, EU, British politicians have finally come to an agreement on the Brexit deal. Britain’s House of Commons has voted to approve the Brexit deal. But there are still many issues needing to be solved. European countries agreed that there should be a transition period this coming March. This will give British business some time to get ready for life outside of Europe. Even though the UK will be out of the European Union, it should still be possible for United Kingdom based businesses to employ foreign workers from the EU…

Some background information: The United Kingdom (UK) decided to leave the European Union (EU), in other words, Brexit. Regardless of whether this decision is good or bad, it’s already causing a lot of uncertainty, confusion and disagreement among the citizens of Europe and the world. Here’s what this means for the UK; what it means for EU citizens that live in the UK; and how it will affect those who are not currently UK or EU citizens but wish to attend an event in Europe after Brexit.America, Canada and so on.

If you are a UK firm marketing into the EU

Passporting rights ended on 31 December 2020. A UK firm marketing or selling its products or services into the EU is now a third-country firm in the same way that a US or APAC firm is a third-country firm in the EU.

Third-country firms have to rely on a patchwork of national licensing regimes and rules across the EU, which are not homogeneous. Assessment therefore needs to occur on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis.  Consideration needs to be given to both the rules applying to the marketing of the fund and rules applying to the entity doing the marketing.  Factors to consider include licensing/notification procedures, timings, fees and local agent requirements.

All the EEA (European Economic Area) jurisdictions we cover look in detail at the rules, which apply to third-country firms marketing into that jurisdiction. In particular, we consider which activities trigger licensing requirements and whether a local presence is required to obtain such a licence or alternatively if it can be applied for on a cross-border basis. We also consider whether there are any available third-country exemptions and what type of business and investors they allow you to conduct and access.  All of these factors are relevant in your decision-making processes.

What about marketing into the UK?

Our UK report and memorandum explain the position for non-UK firms post-Brexit. Some highlights from our report:

• Broadly, firms can still market and sell both funds and investment management and advisory services on a cross-border basis to certain UK investors post-Brexit using the UK’s financial promotion regime exemptions and the overseas person exclusion.
• The UK’s TPR allows EEA providers of regulated financial services and funds which were already operating in the UK under passporting rights as at 31 December 2020 (and which opted into the TPR) to continue to do business on a temporary basis.
• Non-EEA (e.g. US firms) can continue to operate in the same way when marketing into the UK.

Other Routes to Market?

You may of course be considering other routes to accessing European and UK markets post-Brexit and we provide detail on other potential routes to allow you to assess viable options including:

• Marketing/selling in response to reverse enquiries – note every jurisdiction has a different tolerance level regarding passive marketing and their own set of conditions applicable to permitted reverse enquiries.
• Pre-marketing in respect of AIFs and UCITS i.e. testing investor interest in a fund prior to committing to making the relevant notification/registration required in the particular jurisdiction. The rules vary jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction, as to when an activity falls beyond pre-marketing and trips into requiring a notification/registration to be made in respect of the fund. We are currently monitoring the rules in relation to pre-marketing very closely as the EU’s Cross-Border Distribution of Funds Directive is due for implementation by Member States in August 2021 and will impact how pre-marketing can be conducted and by whom. 
• General marketing activities including brand marketing, general awareness-raising of product/service-lines and speaking at finance-related events may be permitted. The rules vary considerably from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and we analyse these at a detailed jurisdiction/activity level to assist our subscribers.