Golden Copy: Brexit, Trump and the Silver Lining For Data Management

Now that the Brexit vote to leave the European Union has come to pass, I recall a few months back attending a briefing on what the referendum result was likely to mean. The experts who spoke all seemed to think it was highly unlikely the UK would really vote to leave the EU, because it would not be sensible economically.

Similarly, a year ago almost no experts or media observers thought it would be likely that Donald Trump would become the Republican nominee for president, yet now the world has both these outcomes.

It's unlikely that the combination of Brexit and a Trump presidency – still dependent on the UK government actually implementing the referendum result, as Victor Anderson writes, and the US general election going Trump's way – will bring about the zombie apocalypse. But could Brexit, especially, reshape the UK's fortunes as a financial center compared to another European city that would try to take its place?

In the data management corner of the financial industry, carrying out Brexit will complicate, but not end the importance or enforcement of EU regulations that have been instituted or set to take effect in the next couple years, including Solvency II and MiFID II. These could even become more important and inspire quicker compliance efforts if capital starts leaving the UK for EU countries.

Assuming the UK financial services industry still retains significant size – again, if the UK does actually leave – there will still be plenty of work for data management professionals, especially those concerned with compliance issues. That is because the UK will either have to draft its own comparable regulations to the aforementioned EU provisions or work out how its firms, or UK-based arms of global firms, will remain compatible with MiFID II and the like, to maintain transactions with countries in the European single market.

So, if the worst geopolitical outcomes do come to pass, data management professionals can rest assured that there will be plenty of challenging work coming their way – and keeping them afloat.