Brexit Doesn't Mean EU Agency Can Break Canary Wharf Lease
- EU departure doesn’t allow medicines agency to break its lease
- Ruling is ‘welcome news’ for property markets, lawyers say
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A London judge gave landlords a bit of good news in a difficult environment, ruling that the European Medicines Agency couldn’t use Brexit as an excuse to break its 500 million-pound ($651 million) lease in Canary Wharf.
Judge Marcus Smith ruled in favor of the Canary Wharf Group, the EMA’s landlord, on Wednesday, saying that the European Union agency remains obligated to honor the lease even though it’s relocating to Amsterdam. The case is one of the first in the U.K. to grapple with the commercial ramifications of Britain’s departure from the bloc.