7 / 11  BIS central bankers' speeches  Brexit transition As I mentioned at the start, all of this work takes place in a period of uncertainty, and it can appear that the sands are continually shifting beneath us. This is reflected by the announcement in March of an agreed transition period.
On the one hand, the knowledge of a ‘transition period’ does provide a measure of comfort to both regulators and market participants. On the other hand, as the transition phase only comes into effect if there is a withdrawal agreement, and the EU27 does not have the same legislative backstop as the UK18.