Vision for Economic Growth — a roadmap to prosperity 7 Introduction Industry leads for this report The City of London Corporation is particularly grateful to the expertise and commitment of the industry leads who helped to shape the chapters and overall report throughout the project. Vivienne Artz Lisa Quest John Romeo Senior Data Strategy and Privacy Policy Advisor to the Centre for Information Policy Leadership Managing Partner, Oliver Wyman Partner and Head of UK & Ireland, and CEO, Oliver Wyman Forum Oliver Wyman Katharine Braddick Group Head of Strategic Policy and Advisor to the Group CEO, Barclays It can be easy to take the UK’s 昀椀nancial centre for granted, 15 In 2020, 43% of 昀椀nancial and outside of London. or even criticise its in昀氀uence, as many did in the wake related professional services exports originated Rebekah Clement 16 Corporate A昀昀airs Director, Lloyd’s of the Global Financial Crisis. But if we hope to revive from other regions and nations across the UK. Britain’s growth rate, extend prosperity across the UK, Huw Evans We cannot rest on our laurels, though. Rival centres and build a sustainable economy that will deliver for from Europe, Asia, and the Americas are elevating Partner, KPMG future generations, we need to celebrate our 昀椀nancial centre and empower it to play a leading role in meeting their game, and new challenges are knocking at the the biggest challenges of our time. door. The world needs to raise massive sums of Danny Lopez money in the coming years to combat climate change CEO, Glasswall and green the economy. And the UK must be able to The UK 昀椀nancial centre embodies so many of the qualities Neylin Mutlu that make Britain great. It is a magnet for the best and keep up as countries around the world experiment with Global Business Manager, Center for Carbon Transition and Sustainable Solutions, J.P. Morgan new technologies that have the potential to transform the brightest talent in a wide variety of professions, from banking and insurance, to asset management and the 昀椀nancial system and make it more accessible. consulting, to the law and accounting. The density of Sheila Nicoll Senior Public Policy Advisor, Schroders these skills in and around the City of London make it This report provides a roadmap to build on the UK’s existing strengths and bolster our 昀椀nancial centre to an attractive place to do business and facilitate easy Chris Woolard collaboration with policymakers, business leaders and meet these challenges. We propose nine big moves, Partner, Chair Global Regulatory Network, EY civil society representatives. including developing a long-term growth strategy for 昀椀nancial and professional services based on partnership With additional thanks to Baroness Kay Swinburne for her contribution in the early stages of the report between government and the industry; implementing We have a truly global 昀椀nancial centre. Our openness, legal and business traditions, and time zone and global regulatory and structural reforms to unleash greater prior to her ennoblement. domestic investment by UK pension and insurance funds; connectivity make the UK a place where the world comes We are also grateful to Allen & Overy for providing legal advisory services. Special thanks to James Roe, Bob Penn, to do business. The UK is home to the largest share of becoming a digital 昀椀rst economy by forging internationally 12 and the Nikki Johnstone, Matthew Townsend, Jane Finlayson-Brown, Damian Carolan, Jonathan Benson, Tom Roberts, international bank lending and borrowing, competitive data standards and promoting digital 13 This Jessica Kerslake, and Tamara Cizeika. largest centre for foreign exchange trading. veri昀椀cation, asset tokenisation, and arti昀椀cial intelligence; openness, in turn, helps drive innovation in our 昀椀nancial and aligning policy and industry standards on climate ecosystem. The UK attracts more 昀椀ntech investment to accelerate 昀椀nancing for the transition to a low- than the next ten European countries combined, and carbon economy. 14 This ability to globally ranks second only to the US. attract money and talent is an asset few rival centres The opportunity is there for the taking. It’s time for can match. government and industry to join together and unleash the power of 昀椀nance to create a more prosperous and These strengths extend bene昀椀ts far beyond London. sustainable future for all of us. Financial and related professional services employ one in every 13 workers in this country, two thirds of them