Financial Services Group of Livery Companies
The Company is one of nine of the modern Livery Companies – the others being Solicitors, Chartered Accountants, Chartered Secretaries & Administrators, Marketors, Actuaries, Insurers, Information Technologists, World Traders, Management Consultants and Tax Advisers – that form the Financial Services Group of Livery Companies.
The most recent meeting was in April this year when those present were addressed by Alderman Nicholas Anstee, who is anticipated to be the next Lord Mayor.
Alderman Anstee’s background is in accountancy, and he outlined the challenges currently facing Financial Services in the UK. UK Financial Services retain a better reputation overseas than at home and there has been some evidence of what Alderman Anstee called a ‘flight to quality’, although in his view much still needed to be done to improve confidence in UK regulation and in financial services overall. Alderman Anstee is already in discussion with the FSA, Bank of England and Treasury on regulatory matters. In his opinion, it is important to influence as strongly as possible the regulatory changes being discussed within the EU, rather than being unduly antagonistic to the proposals. This said he feels that the EU had to recognise that damaging UK Financial Services in fact damaged the whole of Europe and boosted New York as a financial centre. A consistent message from the City of London is that UK Financial Services are much more than banking.
Alderman Anstee confirmed that the current Lord Mayor’s Financial Literacy initiative (in which several members of this Company are taking part) would continue for a further year. The initiative is allied to FSA work on improving financial competence and it is possible that the two initiatives might be combined in the future, under the auspices of the FSA.
Potential overseas visits by the Lord Mayor in 2009/2010, are in the planning stage but will include what he referred to as the ‘priority’ states (including Russia and China) as well as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, Canada, Romania, Vietnam, Poland, India, USA, Japan and Kazakhstan. UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) are giving stronger direction in setting up the overseas visits, which should improve their value, and it was also intended that the visits to the Gulf should comprise shorter, more focused, visits to individual countries rather than longer tours of several states.
During discussions Alderman Anstee commented on a number of areas including the relationship between (and respective responsibilities of) the Lord Mayor and the Mayor of London with regard to the promotion of the financial services markets and of London as a place to locate financial services firms; the taxation of ‘non-doms’; the problems of obtaining (and keeping) visas for overseas trainees on professional courses or with professional services firms; the influence which the City of London Corporation (and the Lord Mayor) has over the Government and specific Government Departments; and the future
of the Alternative Investment Market.
Karl Davis
Court Assistant