The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, confirmed over the weekend he would be campaigning for the UK to leave the EU.
The UK Telegraph says this will 'electrify' the campaign
More at that link.
Also over the weekend from the UK on 'Brexit':
- UK's Cameron says leaving the EU would be a "leap in the dark" UK
- UK referendum on EU to be held 23 June 2016
- The EU-UK deal: Read all about it. Full details here.
- UK's Cameron gets a "unanimously agreed" deal from Europe - What now for the pound?
With apologies to all the Boris' out there ... this is the one true Boris (pictured with Natasha and tape bomb)
GBP has dumped in the early Monday market. For those who follow along with my opening posts each week you'll be familiar with my broken-record incantation that liquidity is very, very poor and prices can move sharply. QED.
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A couple of investment bank comments:
Goldman Sachs:
- If Britain quits the European Union, sterling (GBP/USD) could fall to 1.15 / 1.20
HSBC:
- Our year-end 1.60 forecast by relies on Britain remaining in the EU
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In late Friday trade GBP traded higher. Hopes were up for Britain to stay in the EU, and Ryan had the news over the weekend that a deal with Europe had indeed been reached.
Boris Johnson's decision to actively campaign for Britain to leave the EU has reignited fears of Brexit. Johnson is a popular politician in the UK and his weighing in on an 'exit' vote is seen as a coup for the Brexit side. If the UK does exit it raises fears of a Gilt (UK government bonds) sell off and a GBP sell off. That's it in a nutshell.
