LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it would offer a fast-track visa scheme for jobs at high-growth companies after a government-backed review warned that financial technology firms will struggle with Brexit and tougher competition for global talent.<\/p>\n
FILE PHOTO: Commuters walk through Canary Wharf, as the number of coronavirus cases grow around the world, in London, Britain March 16, 2020. REUTERS\/Dylan Martinez<\/p>\n
Finance minister Rishi Sunak said that now Britain has left the European Union, it wants to make sure its immigration system helps businesses attract the best hires.<\/p>\n
This new fast-track scale-up stream will make it easier for fintech firms to recruit innovators and job creators, who will help them grow, Sunak said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Over 40% of fintech staff in Britain come from overseas, and the new visa scheme, open to migrants with job offers at high-growth firms that are scaling up, will start in March 2022.<\/p>\n
Brexit cut fintechs access to the EU single market and made it far harder to employ staff from the bloc, leaving Britain less attractive for the industry.<\/p>\n
The review published on Friday and headed by Ron Kalifa, former CEO of payments fintech Worldpay, set out a strategy and delivery model that also includes a new 1 billion pound ($1.39 billion) start-up fund.<\/p>\n
Its about underpinning financial services and our place in the world, and bringing innovation into mainstream banking, Kalifa told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Britain has a 10% share of the global fintech market, generating 11 billion pounds ($15.6 billion) in revenue.<\/p>\n
The review said Brexit, heavy investment in fintech by Australia, Canada and Singapore, and the need to be nimbler as COVID-19 accelerates digitalisation of finance, all mean the sectors future in Britain is not assured.<\/p>\n
It also recommends more flexible listing rules for fintechs to catch up with New York.<\/p>\n
We recognise the need to make the UK attractive a more attractive location for IPOs, said Britains financial services minister John Glen, adding that a separate review on listings rules would be published shortly.<\/p>\n
Those findings, along with Rons report today, should provide an excellent evidence base for further reform.<\/p>\n
Britain pioneered sandboxes to allow fintechs to test products on real consumers under supervision, and the review says regulators should move to the next stage and set up scale-boxes to help fintechs navigate red tape to grow.<\/p>\n
Its a question of knowing who to call when theres a problem, said Kay Swinburne, vice chair of financial services at consultants KPMG and a contributor to the review.<\/p>\n
A UK fintech wanting to serve EU clients would have to open a hub in the bloc, an expensive undertaking for a start-up.<\/p>\n
Leaving the EU and access to the single market going away is a big deal, so the UK has to do something significant to make fintechs stay here, Swinburne said.<\/p>\n
The review seeks to join the dots on fintech policy across government departments and regulators, and marshal private sector efforts under a new Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT).<\/p>\n
There is no framework but bits of individual policies, and nowhere does it come together, said Rachel Kent, a lawyer at Hogan Lovells and contributor to the review.<\/p>\n
($1 = 0.7064 pounds)<\/p>\n
Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Jane Merriman and John Stonestreet<\/p>\n
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Britain to offer fast-track visas to bolster fintechs after Brexit - Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it would offer a fast-track visa scheme for jobs at high-growth companies after a government-backed review warned that financial technology firms will struggle with Brexit and tougher competition for global talent. FILE PHOTO: Commuters walk through Canary Wharf, as the number of coronavirus cases grow around the world, in London, Britain March 16, 2020 Continue reading