Activity update

It has been a busy few weeks, set against an eventful political backdrop, not least with the new Chancellor’s first Budget, the launch of the Industrial Strategy and the US presidential election. Across the period, we have continued to engage with key stakeholders to press the issues and priorities of greatest importance to our members, including making clear the industry’s role in driving inclusive growth and investment across the UK.

Long term competitiveness

Following the publication of the government’s ‘Invest 2035: The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy’, we were pleased to see their recognition of the importance both financial and professional (and business) services, both in their own right and as foundational enablers of the industrial strategy. The publication of this 10-year roadmap to boost investment and drive long-term economic growth is welcome and we will respond to the associated consultation, setting out the key priorities for our industry to help drive investment across the UK.

Following our submission to the government’s Pensions Investment Review, we have been socialising our positions with policymakers. We were delighted to be joined by the Pensions Minister for a meeting of our Capital Markets Group in October to hear about next steps for the review and how pensions reforms will fit into the government’s broader strategy for investment and growth. We have also written to the Chancellor reiterating our positions on pensions ahead of her Mansion House speech.

In November, we published a new report: ‘Sovereign Wealth Funds: Global trends and the UK’s role in the evolving landscape for Sovereign Investment Vehicles’. The report highlights the UK’s importance as a centre for the management of Sovereign Wealth Funds’ (SWF) assets and role as a preferred destination for SWF investment. SWFs Assets under Management have significantly increased over the last decade, rising from $6.7 trillion globally in 2014 to $12.7 trillion in 2023. With inclusive growth a priority for the current UK government, SWFs have become of increasing interest due to their substantial assets and their strategic, long-term focus.

Trust and reputation 

The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget statement was positioned as being focused on public-sector investment in UK growth against a challenging fiscal backdrop. We analysed and published the main takeouts for our industry, alongside highlighting some key policy outcomes from our engagement, particularly around devolution, infrastructure development and investment in skills. We have been engaging with our tax group on key priorities in this area to take forward in the coming weeks, including changes to the taxation of carried interest, inheritance tax and how it relates to the abolition of the “non dom” regime and national insurance employer contributions.

As part of our ongoing engagement with new MPs, officials and researchers, we recently brought together a group of parliamentary researchers at an event sponsored by Phoenix Group to discuss the industry and its activities. Topics included supporting scale-up businesses, managing risk in asset management and pensions, anticipating market reactions to the Budget, engaging with MPs on constituency priorities, and tackling fraud while enhancing regulatory support. Members of our Next Generation Leadership Council also joined to discuss their respective sectors. Given its popularity, a follow-up event will be held in early December.

International  

With international trade and investment high on the government’s agenda, we have inputted to the government’s Trade Policy review, led by members of the International Trade and Investment Group (ITIG) and Liberalisation of Trade in Services Committee (LOTIS), and are now socialising key points with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and other stakeholders.

We have convened members to provide substantial evidence for the recently announced reviews by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) on international development, economic diplomacy, and impact. This effort aims to assist the FCDO in gaining a comprehensive understanding of our industry’s role in international trade, policy, and development, while emphasising the significance of consistency in delivery across posts, HMG departments, and capacity building for civil servants.

We have been focused on enhancing the relationship between the EU and UK financial and related professional services industries and have recently led delegations to Frankfurt and Milan as part of the Anglo-German and Anglo-Italian Financial Services Dialogues to facilitate closer cooperation and understanding. We have engaged in various events to advocate for members’ interests, including the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement Domestic Advisory Group and the EU Roundtable of Financial Centres. We’ve also worked with counterparts at the City of London Corporation on a UK-Swiss industry dialogue, discussing the Berne Financial Services Agreement and the UK-Swiss Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Our work to support the rebuilding of the economy in Ukraine continues at pace and we were pleased to support Bruce Carnegie-Brown in his capacity as the UK nominee on the Ukraine Business Advisory Council (BAC), focusing on war risk insurance and presenting strategies to the Ukrainian government and major donors for structuring risk and involving private sector players.

Under the Good Governance Fund project The City-Ukraine Hub, funded by UK International Development, we held workshops with various Ukrainian government ministries to address capital market reforms and corporate governance. These sessions were conducted in collaboration with organisations such as the London Stock Exchange Group, BNP Paribas, Bank of America, Nasdaq, and PwC. Our international development work has also focused on Nigeria and Vietnam, with the initiation of a project to establish an international financial centre in Lagos and the early stages of a similar project starting in Vietnam.

In the run up to the US election we continued our engagement with US policymakers and regulators. In October, our US Market Advisory Group (MAG) Chair, Cuan Coulter of State Street, hosted a visiting Congressional delegation led by Congressman Andy Barr from the House Financial Services Committee; our board Chair Anne Richards DBE, chaired a roundtable on the theme of Women in Finance in the margins of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings; and we facilitated a British American Finance Alliance (BAFA) meeting in Washington DC. The latter focused on a strategy for engaging with the new US administration to advance our joint agenda for Transatlantic Financial Services.

As part of our work on strengthening relations with stakeholders in the Asia Pacific region, we undertook a delegation to Southeast Asia. We met with key ASEAN stakeholders in Jakarta, Vientiane, and Singapore to discuss priorities such as the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement negotiations, the WTO E-commerce Moratorium, and green finance standards. In Japan we took part in strategic discussions on asset management, green finance, innovation, and fintech, attending the WAIFC AGM to prepare for the next Japan Financial Dialogue in January 2025. In China we refined our requests for the UK financial services sector ahead of the Economic and Financial Dialogue in Q1 2025, engaging with Chinese regulators and holding member roundtables. Additionally, we held workshops with Malaysia’s Finance Minister II and Central Bank governor to advance our Islamic Finance program in anticipation of Malaysia’s ASEAN presidency in 2025.

We have also continued to contribute to policy development multilaterally and plurilaterally. Following our participation in the WTO Public Forum in Geneva in September, we have worked with allies in the Global Services Coalition to make the industry case for sustained effort to bring about the proposed WTO rules on digital trade. In October, we also took part in the OECD Services Symposium, and US International Trade Commission’s Annual Services Roundtable – both included discussion on fresh approaches to analysing data on trade in services to provide an improved framework for policymakers and regulators.

Green and sustainable finance

Ahead of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, we organised several events to engage with members, government and other key stakeholders on what to expect from the event and how to build ambition towards COP30 in Brazil next year. This included a roundtable with the British Ambassador to Brazil, kindly hosted by Freshfields and a pre-COP roundtable with hosts Clifford Chance. At COP29, through a series of events and meetings, we will be highlighting the critical role of our industry in supporting the delivery of the Paris Agreement, as well as a key enabler of the net-zero transition, a source of expertise and provider of capital. We will be running a post-COP29 virtual member briefing in early December.

Our Green and Sustainable Finance Group recently met with officials from the Private Sector Investment into Net Zero Department in DESNZ. The meeting focused on the UK’s current low-carbon investment trends and future needs, recent announcements on the National Wealth Fund and GB Energy, and how this links into the Industrial Strategy. We discussed current barriers to investment in net zero and how government can work collaboratively to strengthen the investment environment.

Regions and nations 

We have continued to build on the publication of our 2024 ‘Enabling growth across the UK’ report to reinforce the crucial enabling role of our industry with the new government. Our member-led task and finish group on the government’s proposed reforms to the planning system submitted its recommendations to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and we are also drawing heavily on the report’s recommendations to inform our submission to the government’s Industrial Strategy Consultation. We were also pleased to discuss some of the report findings when we welcomed Ashley Alder, Chair of the FCA to a roundtable with our members in Cardiff in November.

We were pleased to see a number of our key messages reflected in the Chancellor’s recent budget, including single funding settlements for Mayors and further investment in connectivity between regional industry hubs.

We had a great day in Birmingham at our National Conference 2024 on 26 November, sponsored by PwC, where we were joined by over 190 delegates from across the UK’s financial and related professional services industry, policymaking and academia.

The event, also sponsored by Guernsey Finance and State Street, featured a packed agenda of keynote addresses and panel discussions. Our Leadership Council Chair Bruce Carnegie-Brown kicked off the day with his opening address, calling for investment in critical infrastructure and innovation and underlining the important role our industry has to play in financing the green transition.

Delegates in Birmingham and online heard keynotes from Tulip Siddiq MP, Economic Secretary to the HM Treasury; Emily Shepperd, Chief Operating Officer of the Financial Conduct Authority; and Baroness Joanna Penn, Conservative Peer and former Treasury and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Minister, all of whom were keen to recognise the important role our industry has to play in enabling growth across the economy. Dr Carol McNaughton Nicholls, Associate Partner of Thinks Insight & Strategy, shared some of the latest insights from research on policymaker and public perceptions of our industry.

Mixed through all that, three lively panel sessions explored: the role of devolution as a driver of growth; how to create inclusive prosperity and investment across the UK; and what the new government’s first months mean for business. Thank you to our sponsors, speakers, panellists, and delegates for their excellent contributions.

For more information on what we’ve been doing take a look at ‘Our work’ and ‘News’.