The United Kingdom recently held a referendum vote to leave the European Union commonly known as “Brexit” and the people voted to leave the EU. This vote has sent the British Pound plummeting. The British Pound vs. the US dollar has reached low levels that have not been seen in 31 years. In response many of the money transfer companies worldwide had temporarily halted money flows in and out of the UK due this unprecedented volatility.

The most notable of these are online money transfer companies Transferwiseand Azimo. A temporary halt due to extreme volatility in currency markets could be useful to a money transfer company so that the company does not endure unnecessary currency risks. This concept is similar to a circuit breaker type halt that a securities exchange would use. It is common for money transfer companies to offer competitive exchange rates and take on currency risks to expedite money transfers for clients. It appears that since the initial shock to the currency markets on the day of the referendum vote both online money transfer companies are back to operating business-as-usual.

A more lingering result of the UK referendum has been a change in attitude towards migrant workers from the EU living in UK. The UK boasts a very large migrant population, many coming from the EU to work and send money back to their native countries. It was the creation of the EU in 2004 that has facilitated a dramatic increase in number of migrants to the UK. This situation may soon change with the recent “Brexit” vote. There may be a large talent pool of skilled and experience workers who may soon be looking for new homes and new jobs. Where will they end up? How will they send their money home?