Will Big Bang 2.0 reset the City’s financial compass?

Many in the City are already looking beyond narrow “equivalence” arrangements on mutual market access. “The industry would like more opportunities to bring the broader aspects of investment management and servicing industries back onshore into the UK,” says Tony Gaughan, leader of global asset management at Deloitte. I think there’s a growing feeling that many have not perhaps considered issues like growing the economic value of the investment industry to the regions, over the longer term.” Some firms are weighing up whether to bring some operations back to the UK, particularly to places like Glasgow or Northern Ireland, he says. Providing top-class infrastructure and technology to allow people and businesses “to access, borrow and invest their money, will all be critical areas of a competitive edge”, says Richard Hammell, Deloitte’s UK head of financial services. “I think the UK is going to want to economically invest disproportionately in those areas to be the leading centre for the digital future of financial services.” In an effort to attract more companies, particularly in tech, to choose London as a venue to list their shares, the Government has called in Lord Hill, the former EU commissioner, to explore possible rule changes.