London’s Islamic finance boom shows that flexibility and innovation are in the City’s DNA In recent years, the UK has stepped up its game in Islamic finance. In 2014, for example, it became the first country outside the Islamic world to issue a sovereign sukuk, the Islamic equivalent of a bond. With such significant developments taking place here in the UK, I was very much looking forward to a trip [...]
The City must make the most of Britain’s historic Commonwealth ties to thrive outside the EU Today we celebrate a unique global organisation that unites countries from across the world to encourage social and economic development. I am referring, of course, to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth of Nations is a collection of 52 member states united by the shared values of democracy, free speech, human rights, and the rule of law, [...]
Sign up to City Giving Day to celebrate all the good the Square Mile does for the UK I had the great pleasure last Wednesday of launching the fourth City Giving Day which, I hope, will be the most successful yet. City Giving Day, which takes place on 26 September this year, is an excellent opportunity to shine a spotlight on the immense, positive change the City can – and does – make [...]
Days of promise lie ahead for British firms selling to booming Asian markets February 27, 2017 I returned yesterday from my latest trade mission to Hong Kong, mainland China and South Korea, which I undertook with the aim of exploring business opportunities across Asia for Britain. This is a crucial moment for the UK’s economic relationship with key overseas partners, in particular China, and expanding our economic ties in the most important [...]
Celebrate the businesses that go the extra mile to support their local communities February 20, 2017 The most important part of my role as lord mayor of the City of London is to represent the UK’s financial and professional services industry. Since my election last September I have been regularly meeting employees, employers, entrepreneurs and opinion-formers from across the UK – and one thing is increasingly clear: as a nation we [...]
London is a monument to the benefits of openness and internationalism February 6, 2017 "London is open”. This much-publicised campaign, launched by mayor of London Sadiq Khan and garlanded with column inches and broadcast coverage, is doing a great job of communicating the fact that the world’s greatest city wants nothing to do with the protectionism that seems to be appearing elsewhere in the world. We stand as a [...]
Britain must look beyond the economic giants to reaffirm its place as a great trading nation January 23, 2017 I write this column in the stunning Himalaya region of Nepal, where I am representing the UK’s financial and professional services industry. Nepal and the United Kingdom have been friends for more than two centuries, sharing many aspects of heritage, culture and values. In this special year, the bicentenary of our diplomatic relations, I hope [...]
London is the world’s greatest city because it’s both a cultural and business powerhouse January 9, 2017 "You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” This famous quotation by British poet Samuel Johnson still holds true about our great city some 240 years later. London [...]
The City is a national asset with massive potential to address regional inequality December 12, 2016 One of the hardest parts of the lord mayor’s job is getting people to think of the financial City as more than just London. Our capital is certainly a vital part of the UK’s offer, but so are the many smaller towns and cities that lie beyond the M25 that, together, provide two thirds of the UK’s [...]
The chancellor’s economic programme contains much the City should welcome November 28, 2016 The chancellor stepped up to the despatch box last week to make his most important speech since taking office in July. Where previously the Autumn Statement was an important political date on the calendar for UK media, it had gone largely unnoticed by the European press. This year, however, was different. Philip Hammond’s address was [...]