29 March 2007
Lord Mayor of world's leading international financial centre
leads City visit to Russia
Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman John Stuttard arrives
in Moscow on Saturday to head the City’s largest-ever business
delegation to strengthen business links with Russia.
The 19-strong group of UK-based financial services leaders will
undertake a six-day visit to Moscow and St Petersburg to meet with
ministers and senior industry figures in Russia. It follows a
three-day visit to Almaty and Astana in Kazakhstan and begins the
first in a series of visits by the Lord Mayor to all four BRIC
(Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries.
The trip is part of a programme of high-level financial services
visits to Russia co-ordinated by UKTI, the City of London and the
UK Treasury.
Alderman Stuttard, who acts as an ambassador for UK financial
services, said: "In 2006 the UK was the single largest investor in
Russia. Russia’s extensive mineral wealth, combined with its
programme of economic reform, makes it a natural business partner
for Britain.
"Meanwhile, London, as the world’s leading financial centre, is
Russia’s global gateway to international finance and the
international investor community."
During the visit, the Lord Mayor will lead sessions on
education, training and qualifications – promoting the excellence
in top-level skills and training development in the UK for
financial services personnel. He will also head a seminar on carbon
trading and open a roundtable session on investing in
infrastructure. The Lord Mayor will be joined by Chris
Gibson-Smith, Chairman of the London Stock Exchange, to lead an LSE
conference – IPO and Beyond: New Capital Market Products on the
Horizon.
In St Petersburg he will open the Going Global seminar.
Sponsored by PwC, this brings together high-profile Russian
companies, UK experts, representatives from the City of London and
UK practitioners. Participants will hear about why the City of
London is the world’s leading financial services centre, how to
raise capital and how to access the skills required to help do
this, listings on the main LSE or AIM and accessing venture
capital.
The Lord Mayor plans to hold talks in Moscow with Oleg Vyugin,
Chairman of the Federal Financial Markets Service; Sergei Ignatiev,
Chairman of Central Bank; Alexei Kudrin, Finance Minister, German
Graf, Economy and Trade Minister and the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri
Luzhkov.
The City of London delegation includes representatives from the
London Stock Exchange, KPMG, the Law Society, Morgan Stanley, PwC
Capital Markets, Standard Chartered and Norton Rose.
Ends
Key facts on City of London:
- 32% of all world currency trading in London (more than NYSE and
Nasdaq combined).
- 90% of world trade in metals, 23% of world aviation insurance,
25% of all marine insurance, almost 50% of all ship brokering in
London.
- London has the most liquid financial market and is the most
international.
- London is the largest investment banking centre in Europe,
dealing with half of all European investment banking activity. Most
investment banks are headquartered or have a major office in
London.
- 610 foreign companies are listed on the London Stock
Exchange.
- London’s international experience – it has the most foreign
banks of any financial centre (255 by March 2007 figs) – NY has 228
and Paris 217.
Press enquiries:
Lesley Mair at City of London Press Office will be in Russia 31
March to 5 April inclusive. Contact
lesley.mair@cityoflondon.gov.uk or
+44 7785 528 453 or the City of London Press Office on 020 7332
1906.
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a picture of the Lord Mayor.
The Lord Mayor is the annually-elected head of the City of
London Corporation which provides local government services for the
Square Mile, the financial and commercial heart of the UK, and
which is committed to maintaining and enhancing the status of the
business City as the world's leading international financial and
business centre through its policies and services. Its
responsibilities also extend far beyond the City boundaries and
include management of the Barbican Centre, Central Criminal Court
at the Old Bailey, 10,000 acres of open space including Hampstead
Heath and Epping Forest, three wholesale food markets, as well as
acting as the London Port Health Authority. The Lord Mayor, the
City of London, UKTI and the UK Treasury work in partnership to
promote UK financial services.
More about the Lord Mayor.