The City’s flagship markets still matter – despite a changing Square Mile April 11, 2023 London’s markets are something of a hot topic in the City at the moment, and the smattering of rather unspectacular floats so far this year will do little to calm concerns that our capital markets are not the global hotspot they once were. The question is whether it matters to anything other than our collective [...]
Nigel Lawson and the City: If you seek his monument, look around April 4, 2023 The modern City of London simply would not exist without the reforms driven through by the late Nigel Lawson
The new audit regulator’s boss should be based in London, not Birmingham April 3, 2023 Will the arrival of just shy of 200 regulatory staff in Birmingham, relocated from London, make a tremendous difference to the West Midlands economy? Probably not. Will putting half the staff of the new audit regulator in Birmingham risk making the body less effective? That ones easier: yes. The plan for the CEO of the new [...]
Our politicians are like labradors – happiest only in the long grass March 30, 2023 Like some sort of raggedy, enthusiastic golden retriever, Britain’s political establishment seem to be happiest when headed for the long grass. Today’s paper is full of decisions, like some unattainable tennis ball, booted over the fence and made somebody else’s problem. Below, the failure to deliver infrastructure. In our deep-dive into capital markets, it’s reform [...]
The £100,000 childcare cut-off is hardly crime of the century, but it’s bad policy March 29, 2023 So here’s a column in defence of the one per cent, which at least is something you don’t see in any other rag, so let’s hope you enjoy the novelty. Worse, it’s arguing that those paid north of £100,000 are being hard done by. A challenging sell. But, but, but. It is increasingly this paper’s [...]
We will need to hear more from the Bank if a credit crunch follows this banking ‘crisis’ March 28, 2023 Well, you can’t say he laboured the point. Andrew Bailey limited his commentary on the banking crisis / gentle banking wobble to just one paragraph in his speech last night at the London School of Economics, but he made himself clear enough: further rate hikes are on the way unless something dramatic changes in the [...]
Central banks need to steady their course despite choppy weather March 22, 2023 Much ado about nothing? Hardly. The loss of Credit Suisse, and the wipeout of Coco bond holders, will have consequences for years to come – but for now at least it appears as if the guardrails are holding. Attention will now inevitably turn to the Federal Reserve and, the day after, the Bank of England. [...]
The Budget: Bring back George Osborne – we need a long-term economic plan March 15, 2023 The Tory benches cheered, the Labour frontbench booed, the SNP reminded us they were there: yes, it was pantomime in Parliament yet again yesterday, with a budget pre-trailed to the point that many of us could have had a stab at announcing it ourselves. What was more interesting was what wasn’t in it: a genuine [...]
What Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse in the UK should tell the biggest banks March 13, 2023 It is, as they say, rather awkward timing. On Wednesday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was expected to deliver a paean to the tech industry – with investment incentives aplenty and no doubt lots of promises regarding our “world-leading” sectors. After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank UK, though, it is more likely that the industry needs [...]
Britain needs to rediscover the joy of risk and reward March 8, 2023 This time next week, no doubt, your fingernails will be bitten to the quick in anticipation of Jeremy Hunt’s budget. Should you be able to wait no longer, we offer you our best informed prediction: don’t get too excited. In some ways, a muted ‘fiscal event’ sums up Britain and Westminster at the moment. There [...]