There was no official confirmation from either side that a deal was about to be struck. However, three diplomatic sources in the bloc told Reuters that member states had started to prepare their procedure to implement any deal from Jan. 1, if one was agreed. However, a French official told Reuters that the British had made "huge concessions" in negotiations over the past 48 hours, mostly on access to fishing in its waters. Sterling jumped more than 1.1% against the dollar on perceived prospects of a deal while bond yields rose, and prices fell, in Britain, Europe and the United States. EU leaders have long feared that after Brexit, the United Kingdom could ease regulation to undercut competitors and thus gouge EU market share.

Source: bd News24 December 23, 2020 18:00 UTC