Andrew Bailey, head of the Financial Conduct Authority, told the the Times CEO Summit 2018 that “the idea that we leave firms to deal with transitional risk is wrong”

Britain’s most senior banking regulator has hit back at claims by European officials that banks based in London are not ready for a hard Brexit, saying that this was “considerably wide of the mark”.

Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, made a robust defence of the actions taken in the UK and followed up by weighing into the lack of preparation by his counterparts at the European Banking Authority (EBA).

“The idea that institutions in London have done no preparation, no thinking about Brexit, I’m afraid, and with all due respect to the EBA, is considerably wide of the mark,” he said at The Times CEO Summit in London.

In a dig at the decision by European regulators not to give UK