Looking for comments on expat clients being stranded in Europe post-Brexit

The scale of the post-Brexit advice problem for UK firms serving EU-resident clients is often underappreciated. When passporting ended on 1 January 2021, UK firms lost automatic EU market access rights, and there is no universal replacement for retail financial advice.

The consequences have been significant, particularly for British expats whose pensions, investments and wider financial affairs remain centred on the UK. Some clients have lost access to advisers they worked with for decades.

The result is not a regulatory vacuum, but a fragmented cross-border advice landscape. For many expats, the challenge is not a lack of financial assets, but a lack of regulated advice bridging both their UK arrangements and country of residence. That remains one of the less visible consequences of Brexit for private investors.

Post-Brexit passporting has left some British expats in financial limbo. Before 2021, a UK authorised adviser could often service clients across the EEA through passporting; now, that same firm may need local permissions in each relevant jurisdiction. The result is not just administrative inconvenience. Some clients have pensions, investments and tax planning arrangements built over decades, but the adviser who understands the file can no longer advise them properly. Larger firms can create EU entities or partnerships, but smaller advisers often cannot justify the cost, so clients are orphaned. The danger is that people either receive no advice at all. Regulation is meant to protect consumers, but in this corner of the expat market it has created an advice gap that has poor outcomes for firms and clients alike.