With pandemic planning supplanting Brexit planning in recent months, City firms are leaving it late to prepare for the possibility the UK could crash out of Europe without a deal.

The UK has only 130 days to agree a future trade treaty with the EU, yet around 94% of senior managers at London's largest finance firms - including banks, asset managers, insurance firms and fintech businesses  - said they still had work to do “to remain operational” in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to a poll conducted by consulting firm EY in July and shared exclusively with Financial News.