In this Jan 7, 2021 photo, London buses pass through the City of London in view of skyscrapers in London, UK. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

Britain and the European Union are nearing agreement on how to cooperate on financial market rules - a first, limited step toward working together after Brexit.

The two sides are proposing a joint forum for discussing regulations and sharing information, though this accord won’t require them to open markets through so-called equivalence decisions, according to a draft memorandum of understanding seen by Bloomberg News.

The forum would lead to “informal consultations concerning decisions to adopt, suspend or withdraw equivalence,” according to the draft. Each side will keep the power to make and change their own rules.

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Britain has grown increasingly frustrated over the EU’s reluctance to grant equivalence and enable London-based finance firms to operate in the bloc after the Brexit trade deal largely sidelined the industry. The lack of an agreement so far has put London’s decades-long dominance of European finance under threat.

The European Commission told EU ministers at a meeting earlier this week that the proposal is based on the framework the EU currently has with the US, according to a diplomatic note seen by Bloomberg. The Commission declined to comment.