The process of granting equivalent financial services access should be reformed to better suit relations between the UK and the European Union, a report from the House of Lords says.

The House of Lords’ EU Services Sub-Committee’s report on trade in services beyond Brexit, published on 24 March, found that the City’s approach to equivalence – where the 27-nation bloc allows those with matching standards access to its markets – has changed since the end of the transition period on 31 December last year: it is less sought-after as companies have adapted to the current mechanisms.