The British American Finance Alliance (BAFA) welcomes the evolving U.S.-UK collaboration in response to rising geopolitical tensions, and the accelerating changes in climate and technology.
Financial and professional services have considerable potential to drive growth in both countries and contribute to wider strategic objectives. Realising this potential will require bilateral regulatory collaboration to enhance policy coherence, ensuring that the landscape of policies and rules supports Transatlantic investment and employment.
Through BAFA, the industry plays a critical role in supporting policymakers and regulators to achieve this goal. With elections approaching soon in both countries, this paper reaffirms BAFA’s support for U.S.-UK regulatory collaboration and outlines some immediate and longer-term priorities for dialogue.
As the Secretariat of BAFA and a member of its Executive Committee, TheCityUK will continue to support this important work in deepening and broadening engagement with the U.S. and UK authorities.
About BAFA
The British American Finance Alliance (BAFA) comprises over 20 groups representing the U.S. and UK financial and related professional services industries. It is chaired jointly by Chris Hayward, Deputy Chair, TheCityUK Board and Chairman of Policy at the City of London Corporation (CoLC), and Ken Bentsen, CEO and President of the Securities and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).
The Alliance was launched in October 2020 with the aim of promoting a united business vision for U.S.-UK regulatory cooperation and dialogue. The initiative was intended to support the U.S.-UK Financial Regulatory Working Group (FRWG), which brought together the two Treasury departments and independent regulatory authorities “to deepen bilateral regulatory cooperation and to enhance: financial stability; investor protection; fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and capital formation across both jurisdictions”.
In recent years, the FRWG has played an important role in managing a number of key challenges including: the Brexit transition, the COVID-19 pandemic, rising geopolitical tensions and accelerating climate and technological change.