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EU designated 19 tech firms as critical in November

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Deal would seek to reduce risks from cyberattacks and web

outages

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UK rules took effect at the start of last year

By Phoebe Seers and Lawrence White

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - British financial regulators,

including the Bank of ‌England, have signed an outline deal with

their European counterparts to enhance cooperation and oversight

of providers deemed critical ​to the financial services sector,

the BoE said on Wednesday.

The memorandum of understanding ‍aims to boost cross-border

oversight of cloud services providers and ⁠other tech firms, ⁠to

reduce risks to the financial sector from cyberattacks and web

outages.

In November, the European Union designated 19 ‌tech firms as

critical to the financial ​sector, including cloud services

providers Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure

as well as IBM ( IBM ), London Stock Exchange Group ( LDNXF ) and

Tata Consultancy ⁠Services.

The rules hand regulators powers to ‍examine whether ​these

companies have the right risk management and governance

frameworks in place to ensure the services they provide will

remain resilient.

Wednesday's announcement coincides with a ‍visit to Brussels by

UK financial services minister Lucy Rigby, who is to meet with

European Commissioner for Financial Services Maria Luis

Albuquerque to push for closer EU-UK cooperation on financial

services.

Closer ties between Britain and the European Union have been

the subject of conflicting media reports in recent days,

reflecting ongoing divisions in ​Britain following ‍its 2016

decision to leave the bloc.

Financial services are not part of a 2025 UK-EU reset deal,

but Rigby and the Commissioner will discuss ​areas for

cooperation "where it is in our economy's interest," the finance

ministry said.

Equivalent UK rules came into effect at the start of last

year, but Britain's finance ministry has yet to designate a

single provider.

Despite this, a person familiar with the BoE's thinking said

the cooperation agreement with the EU can still take effect.

The person who spoke on condition ​of anonymity said the

agreement on cooperation was "regardless of whether they are

operating in the UK or not."

Rigby has previously said that tech firms will be brought

within the UK regime later this year.