At midnight tonight CET, 11pm GMT the UK will officially leave the European Union. While some are moving (see here on Sky News) and others are celebrating (see here on the Daily Mail web site), Brexit does require consideration in terms of the rules that impact energy and commodities.

Until the end of 2020, the “implementation period ” of the Withdrawal Agreement will apply. As outlined in this notice from the FCA thre will be no changes to reporting under EMIR and MIFID II during this phase. Ofgem have also stated here that EU law will apply in the UK during this period.

As the year progresses, announcements are likely to emerge about any possible arrangements to be in place from January 2021 onwards. Since there is still a risk that no agreement will be in place, there is the possibility that previously announced “Hard Brexit” provisions will need to be reactivated (see here for example).

For now however, most in the energy and commodity trading sector will be watching to see how matters progress.