UK financial services firms will retain rights in EU - Johnson

By Dan Burns NEW YORK (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Friday he expects the UK to retain the right for its financial firms to sell services across European Union member states after Britain's exit from the bloc. Johnson, speaking to reporters in New York and the United Nations headquarters, also said Britain has been approached by several countries interested in trade deals after UK voters chose last month in a referendum to secede from the European Union. The British government needs to negotiate a new relationship with the EU once London triggers Article 50, the formal start of divorce talks, which could take a year or longer. One main concern that remains is whether Britain's financial services sector will keep its so-called "passporting" rights, and when asked if he believed that would be maintained, Johnson said: "I do. I do." Passporting is a lynchpin feature of the EU's single market, especially for banks, as it allows firms to provide services to clients across the EU. The loss of it for UK-based firms could cripple London's standing as a global financial center. "There are two reasons for optimism about London," Johnson said. First, London offers the deepest pools of liquidity, talent and skill for the capital-formation needs of businesses across Europe, he said. "In the European time zone, London is the place to do it. That will continue." Second, an open relationship for goods and services is essential given the depth of trading between Britain and the continent, he said. "It's very much in the interest of both parties to keep those flows going." Johnson said he had "no doubt" that a balance between overall access to the single European market and freedom of movement can be struck. "I've been very encouraged by the conversations I've had with other European colleagues over the last week or so whether in Brussels or here in the United States," Johnson said at the United Nations. He said fast progress would be in the economic interest both of Britain and of the EU. "The faster we get on and do it the better." BEYOND EUROPE On the issue of non-EU trade relationships, Johnson said that in the weeks since the vote, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and India had all made contact about trade deals. Appointed last week to the newly formed Conservative Party government of Prime Minister Theresa May, Johnson was making his first visit to the United States as foreign secretary, including a stop at the United Nations and a meeting with chief executives of multinational businesses. Johnson told reporters that he had received reassurances from those companies, including banks, drug makers and manufacturers, that Britain remained "very much part" of their global business footprint, although they expressed concern over the uncertainty ahead over how the UK government negotiates its separation from the EU. Nonetheless, Johnson said: "They regard this as an opportunity for the UK If we get this right, this can be a fantastic thing." A growing number of U.S. companies are broadly conceding that the so-called "Brexit" could weigh on profits. Even before the referendum, the prospect of a Brexit outcome was a sufficient threat to the economic outlook to prompt U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy makers to forestall a possible interest rate increase at their mid-June meeting. The dollar has strengthened by more than 4 percent against a basket of major trading partner currencies <.DXY> in the four weeks since the referendum. The British pound has shed more than 12 percent of its value against the dollar, while the euro has dropped around 3.7 percent. (Reporting by Dan Burns, additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos at the United Nations; Editing by Grant McCool)