Recent developments and next steps: Following the three-month extension granted to the UK by the EU on 28 October and the newly announced snap election, the most likely outcome is that the Withdrawal Agreement signed on 17 October between the United Kingdom and the EU will be ratified, leading to an orderly Brexit and the initiation of a transition period during which the United Kingdom will retain most of its access to the EU single market until at least end-2020. The risk of a no-deal Brexit is now greatly diminished.