This is a question many expatriates are mulling over, now positioning for the upcoming negotiations has started. First and foremost, I remind my customers that the process to leave the EU is widely anticipated to take the full two years set out in article 50, so the only immediate areas people should focus on are changes in the U.K. and Spanish budgets.
As the negotiations progress however, there are steps you can take which will ensure that any effects to you are minimised:
1. Does your adviser work for a Spanish registered company, regulated by the Spanish authorities?
Working with an adviser who operates and is regulated already under Spanish finance laws means that any change in the UK’s ability for financial passporting will not affect you.
2. Are your investments held in an EU country, not part of the U.K?
Again, any issues the U.K. may have to solve regarding passporting are negated by ensuring your investments are already domiciled in another EU country.
3. Have you reviewed any U.K. Company pension schemes you hold, which are due to mature in the future?
The recent U.K. Budget saw the government levy a new tax on people moving their pensions to countries outside the EU. There is no certainly that this tax will not be extended to EU countries once the U.K. has left the union. The process of leaving the EU is very much unchartered waters and whilst I certainly do not recommend anyone acts hastily, a review of your financial position in the next few months may avoid future headaches.
If you want to review your personal financial position please call or email me on the contacts below.