UK handed surprise boost as Brit gets top EU financial services role

The UK financial services industry's hand in European Union negotiations has been strengthened by the surprise appointment of a Conservative peer to the key role of EU commissioner for financial services.

Announced as part of new European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker's (pictured) cabinet this morning, the former leader of the House of Lords Jonathan Hill was named to the high-profile post. Hill's new role comes contrary to suggestions he would be relegated to the sidelines. He was nominated earlier this year by David Cameron as the UK's European commissioner, and the UK had lobbied hard for a key economic role for the peer. But Hill's status as a relative unknown, coupled with Cameron's earlier decision to oppose Juncker's candidacy for European Commission president, had...