Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that (1) the precise spot rate, and (2) the commission charged, are identified for all consumer foreign currency transactions at the moment of the transaction post-Brexit.

Under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, where a currency conversion service is offered before the initiation of the payment transaction, the party offering the currency conversion service must disclose to the payer all charges as well as the exchange rate to be used for converting the payment transaction. This will not change after the UK leaves the EU.

From April 2020, the EU’s Cross Border Payments Regulation, known as CBPR2, will require greater transparency on currency conversion charges and exchange rates when making payments, either at a point of sale or an ATM.

After 31 January, the UK and EU will enter an implementation period, during which EU laws that currently apply, or will start to apply during the implementation period, will apply to the UK.

Under the terms of section 8 of the EU Withdrawal Act 2018 (and as further amended by the EU Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020) the Government has the power to fix deficiencies in EU legislation retained following the Implementation Period.