EU financial-services chief Hill resigns after historic plebiscite

Bloomberg

Jonathan Hill, sent to Brussels by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron less than two years ago, resigned as the European Union’s financial-services chief in the wake of Britain’s vote to secede from the bloc. “As we move to a new phase, I don’t believe it is right that I should carry on as the British commissioner as though nothing had happened,” Hill said in an e-mailed statement.
Hill, who called for the U.K. to remain in the EU, said he would work in the weeks ahead to ensure an “orderly
handover.”
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he had put Hill in the finance post “as a sign of my confidence in the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union,” but the “situation is now changing.” Hill’s brief will be taken on by the Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis, currently a vice president of the commission. Juncker said he’s ready to talk with Cameron about nominees to fill the U.K.’s slot on the EU’s executive body.
On Hill’s watch, the commission opened up the entire financial rulebook for review, including contentious issues such as the cap on bankers’ bonuses. Faced with weak banks and an anemic economy, he said global standards will be adapted to suit Europe’s needs. And he slowed to a crawl the legislative conveyor that had churned out more than 40 laws after the crisis.
Juncker said he handed the financial-services brief to Dombrovskis because he’s “ideally placed to ensure continuity” of EU policy in this area. The Latvian is already “coordinating many of the key files under this portfolio,” such as a proposed common deposit insurance system, Juncker said. Cameron said Hill had done an “excellent job” in Brussels, ”giving the U.K. a strong voice in the European Commission,” a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement.