In a new report, TheCityUK worked with 60 financial services groups to set out international strategy proposals to return the UK’s financial capital to being the “world’s leading financial centre” within the next five years.
The
lobby group focuses on boosting the competitiveness of financial
services, the UK’s largest net exporting sector, by first strengthening
its market share in areas where the UK already leads the way, such as
Fintech.
The City of London is at risk of losing its status as a global
financial powerhouse within five years, the Square Mile’s most
influential lobbying body said today.
A vastly changing international economic landscape is chief amongst
the reasons that the UK has seen a decline relative to its global
competitors such as New York and Hong Kong over the past decade,
according to TheCityUK.
Despite the UK’s growing size and
volume of many market segments, it has paled in significance compared
to the rapid growth of new financial centres in Asia and continued
growth in the US.
Although it retains its crown as the leading European financial
centre post-Brexit, the UK has lost global market share in areas such as
cross-border bank lending, pension and hedge fund assets and insurance
premium-writing, the lobby group warns.
“Europe is littered with cities that were once the leading
international centre of their day,” Miles Celic, chief executive of
TheCityUK, who called for the government to do more so that the London
avoids the same fate.
“The last decade has been one of growth for our industry, yet global competitors have grown faster.”
The report focuses on boosting the competitiveness of financial
services, the UK’s largest net exporting sector, by first strengthening
its market share in areas where the UK already leads the way, such as
fintech.
The lobbying body also calls for
the UK to concentrate on four key strategic areas of future global
growth where it holds a competitive advantage and can deliver
world-leading services: global ESG markets; financial and professional
services data and technology; international investment opportunities;
and risk management.
Industry leaders, regulators and government must work together to
create more high-skilled, high-value jobs in the UK and attract new
foreign investment, the lobby group argues, through improving areas such
as the country’s visa system and labour mobility.
It marks out the high costs of sponsoring visas for skilled workers
as well as the long processing times as a key obstacle standing in the
way of the UK’s ability to attract talent.
In order to stay ahead of the curve in sectors such as fintech, the
lobby group recommends a regular review of the UK’s financial regulation
so that it is proportionate and “technology-neutral” and is respected
worldwide.
The group also calls for the government to amend the tax regime for
the UK financial services sector, which it said was taxed “considerably
more than rivals in competitor financial centres” in New York,
Singapore, Hong Kong and Frankfurt.
The UK was overtaken by New York
as the leading international financial centre in 2018, and received its
lowest ever “score” as a a financial hub in March this year, according
to the Global Financial Centres index that the lobby group used as a
benchmark.
“With
the right strategy in place and a clear focus on delivery, the UK can
pull away once again from its competitors,” said Celic.
“It is an ambition that needs industry, government, and regulators to
work together. It will take sustained focus, cooperation and
determination.”
City AM
© City A.M.
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article