Akin Gump partner Davina Garrod presented at the Financial Times "Brexit and Beyond Summit" on Wednesday, May 15, at the Waldorf Hilton, London. Fellow speakers included Chief Secretary to the U.K. Treasury Liz Truss MP, Shadow Chancellor to the Exchequer John McDonnell MP, Former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Baroness Catherine Ashton, Former EU Commissioner for Trade and Arcelor Mittal Board Member Karel De Gucht, Former Permanent Secretary to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Sir Simon Fraser, former U.K. Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Santander Chief Economist Frances Haque, President of FedEx Express Europe & TNT CEO Bert Nappier, and Managing Director of Merck U.K. & Ireland Liz Henderson.
Topics discussed included:
- Status of cross-party Brexit talks between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn.
- Theresa May's plan to bring her Withdrawal Bill before Parliament for a fourth time on June 3.
- An EU perspective on Brexit and the future of Europe.
- How the U.K.'s key business sectors – including financial services, manufacturing, industrials, life sciences and automotive – are preparing for future relations with the EU and other trading partners.
- An update on the U.K.'s free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.
- What Brexit means for services, the U.K.'s key export.
- How a permanent Customs Union could positively and negatively impact the U.K.'s industrial competitiveness and economy.
- Creating dynamic forward-looking U.K. industries that will provide the jobs for the future.
- Nationalization under a future Labour government and remedies for investors, including expropriation and bilateral investment treaty claims.
For further information on the summit, please click here.