Post-Brexit City must be freed from European-style over regulation March 26, 2021 It has always been perceived wisdom that it was greedy bankers to blame for the financial collapse of 2008/9. The truth, however, is very different. Looking back, years of Establishment “too big to fail” support for uneconomic banking and financial institutions which began in the 1970s and culminated in the Greenspan intervention to save markets [...]
Closer UK-Japan ties will unlock access to Asian markets March 25, 2021 Last week’s Integrated Review made it clear that Asia will be increasingly important to theUK as the world’s economic and strategic balance shifts towards the region. Commentatorshave emphasised the need for Britain to bolster security ties with regional partners likeJapan – a country which shares many economic dynamics with the UK, and a similar globaloutlook. [...]
DEBATE: Should we have a right to work from home? March 25, 2021 Alison Newton, co-head of real estate at Addleshaw Goddard says No Up until March 16 last year, there was a common view among city firms that those who work from home were in some way slacking off. Coronavirus has given us a great opportunity to bury the presenteeism principle, demonstrating that working from home can [...]
Covid-19, a year on: How Big Pharma reinvented itself March 25, 2021 In this series, City A.M. looks back at the last year of the pandemic and Covid restrictions and takes stock of its impact on industries and issues at the heart of British society. Read more: Read the full Covid-19, a year on series here. Six years ago, pharmaceutical chief executive Martin Shkreli drew international condemnation when his [...]
Deloitte CEO: Significant audit reforms crucial for investor confidence in UK March 25, 2021 UK businesses are dealing with the economic fallout of the pandemic, the logistical issues of Brexit and huge societal challenges like climate change. It’s not surprising that some feel this is not the right time for a major overhaul of how the country’s businesses are governed and audited. Yet these complex issues are precisely why [...]
The curious case of Boris Johnson’s popularity after a year of lockdowns March 24, 2021 In 1993, economics Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman published a paper with the enigmatic title “When More Pain Is Preferred to Less”. He and his colleagues conducted two experiments with the same group of people. In the first, the participants had to hold their hand in cold water for a specified time. They had to keep [...]
Covid-19, a year on: What small businesses have learnt March 24, 2021 In this series, City A.M. looks back at the last year of the pandemic and Covid restrictions and takes stock of its impact on industries and issues at the heart of British society. Read more: Read the full Covid-19, a year on series here. Some you win, and some you learn. Small businesses have certainly been “learning” [...]
Europe’s sluggish vaccine rollout has been characterised by complacency and lack of innovation March 24, 2021 This week, the European Union will hold a crunch summit on whether to impose a vaccine export ban. Whatever the rights or wrongs of such a proposal, it is symptomatic of a rollout that has gone wrong from the very start. It is no exaggeration to say that the EU’s approach to the vaccine programme [...]
Social factors must be at the heart of pension schemes’ ESG strategy March 24, 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance – or ESG – is the boardroom buzzword of our time. But it must become more than a buzzword, and we must go beyond short-term financial returns in our investment thinking. We need to adopt investment strategies which deliver long-term value, by considering the risks and opportunities relating to supply chains [...]
Regulators have to front up to the cryptocurrency challenge as Bitcoin goes mainstream March 23, 2021 The recent surge in the value of Bitcoin has drawn attention to cryptocurrency from all quarters. Supposedly now at tipping point, the recent billion-dollar bet by Tesla added momentum to cryptocurrency’s growth and duly pushed the valuation past $1tn. Individuals and corporates are all diving into the world of Bitcoin. It’s not just Tesla; companies [...]