The European Journal of Finance

A Decade After Brexit: Navigating the New Age of Barriers in European Finance Issues

Ten years after the Brexit referendum, the financial system is operating in a markedly transformed environment characterised by rising protectionism, heightened geopolitical tensions, and an increasingly fragmented global trading system with constrained financial flows. This special issue examines how the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union both reflects and contributes to a broader shift towards economic nationalism, trade barriers, and financial fragmentation, viewed through the lens of European financial studies. Drawing lessons from Brexit, the special issue seeks to advance understanding of how financial institutions, firms, and markets are adapting, or failing to adapt, to a world in which economic separation, sanctions, and regional blocs are becoming structural rather than transitory features. What initially emerged as a political and economic rupture between the UK, and the EU has unfolded alongside a wider global retreat from multilateralism. Recent developments, including the re-election of Donald Trump and the aggressive reimposition of US trade tariffs in 2025, have amplified protectionist sentiment across major economies. These dynamics have led to increased interest in understanding the role of uncertainty arising from these policy changes in corporate finance, international finance, cross-border investment flows, and international policy coordination. This special issue invites original contributions that explore, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• The long-term effects of Brexit on UK and EU financial markets and financial services a decade after withdrawal.
• The macro-financial implications of Trump 2.0 trade policies for the UK, particularly in the context of renewed tariff regimes affecting British exports and imports and their global financial spillovers.
• The broader impact of overlapping trade barriers—including economic sanctions and retaliatory trade measures—on equity and debt markets.
•  Regional disparities and financial inequalities in credit access and banking systems are exacerbated by trade and financial fragmentation.
• The resurgence of industrial policy and its effectiveness in promoting financial resilience under conditions of reduced international integration.
•  Institutional responses and the capacity of international and regional organisations to mediate and stabilise an increasingly fragmented economic and financial order.
• Disparities in syndicated lending between UK and European lenders and borrowers, with particular attention to sustainable finance.
• The role of regulation and policymaking in reconnecting, or further decoupling, British and European financial systems.
• Barriers to financial technology diffusion following Brexit and the practical implementation of Brexit since 2020.
• Financial behaviour and household finance (e.g., financial flows, savings, investment decisions, overreactions, and reversal effects) ten years after Brexit.
•  Changes in corporate governance among British and/or European firms, particularly shifts in board composition and the associated financial consequences.