Cable Slides As Chances Of Brexit Breakthrough "Receding" Tyler Durden Thu, 12/03/2020 - 14:01 We're less than 30 days away from Britain crashing out of the EU come the New Year, and talks between London and Brussels are not going well. In the latest update, BBC editor and Brexit authority Laura Kuenssberg tweeted that she was hearing talks were going worse than expected. Sounds like Brexit talks have gone worse this afternoon... A senior govt source says ‘at the eleventh hour, the EU is bringing new elements into the negotiation. A breakthrough is still possible in the next few days but that prospect is receding.’ — Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) https://twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1334569799066718209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Minutes later, headlines hit declaring that chances of a Brexit breakthrough are "receding". U.K. OFFICIAL SAYS CHANCES OF BREXIT BREAKTHROUGH RECEDING U.K. OFFICIAL SAYS EU IS MAKING LAST-MINUTE DEMANDS IN TALKS Though a break through is of course still possible. U.K. OFFICIAL SAYS BREAKTHROUGH STILL POSSIBLE IN NEXT FEW DAYS The news sparked a modest slide in cable. Boris Johnson's top negotiator Lord David Frost struck a deal with the EU's Michel Barnier that talks would be extended for two weeks amid assurances that the EU was ready to seriously talk about the major stumbling blocks, including the infuriating rift over fisheries access. The lifespan of that extension is almost up. Earlier this week, the FT reported that Brussels is insisting on using access to EU financial markets, one of its biggest sources of leverage, as one a cudgel to beat London with, saying it would only grant market-access rights that are "in the EU's interests". British Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced on Monday that the government was taking regulatory decisions intended to ensure that EU-based exchanges, clearing houses and financial benchmarks could continue to be used by UK customers. Those moves, known as equivalence decisions, effectively involve endorsing EU regulations as being 'equivalent' to the UK's. Now Brussels is grumbling about not granting the necessary reciprocal equivalence, which could create serious problems for the city, as more financial services firms pick up and leave for cheaper destinations like Poland and Ireland. Like we said, it's the EU's biggest chip, so at this point, with BoJo embracing a hard-nosed approach including threatening to unilaterally invalidate terms of a "backstop" agreement intended to ensure a deal, the EU needs to play it. Then again, it's not like we didn't expect these talks to go down to the wire.