19 November 2009
UK Financial Services industry sets out first concrete response
to Wigley and Bischoff reports
A briefing today outlined to leading industry figures plans to
launch a new, unified body – TheCityUK - to represent the financial
services industry from all corners of the UK.
Due to be formally launched in Spring 2010, TheCityUK will meet
all of the recommendations set out in the Wigley Report,
commissioned by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, shortly after his
election and the Bischoff Report, commissioned by the Treasury.
Last, February, the City of London Corporation was asked to
convene TheCityUK Steering Group and invited Stuart Popham, Senior
Partner at the international law firm Clifford Chance, to chair new
organisation.
Lord Mayor of London and President of TheCityUK Nick Anstee,
commented:
"The fast-growing countries I visit around the world
are always eager to work with London-based firms and institutions,
and rightly so – we must do all we can to enhance our
well-deserved, and hard-earned, international reputation for
excellence. TheCityUK will help facilitate this by strengthening
the bonds between the UK and our global partners and by ensuring we
are in a position to continue attracting substantial investment and
the top talent from all over the world."
Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee at The City of
London Corporation Stuart Fraser, added:
"The City of London Corporation is proud to have helped
facilitate the creation of this body to support and promote the
work of the whole of the UK-based financial services industry in
the UK and across the world. Good faith and trust sit at the heart
of the financial services industry and I am confident TheCityUK
will help restore public confidence by reaffirming our reputation
for competence, responsibility and trustworthiness."
The new body already has wide industry and government support as
well as a clear agenda to coordinate and lead the promotion of the
entire industry in the UK and around the world. Working in
partnership with existing organisations, TheCityUK will coordinate
support for three specific workstreams:
- Explaining and marketing the strengths of the UK-based
financial services industry on a global stage
- Demonstrating the importance of the UK-based financial services
industry to a broader domestic audience
- Working closely with UK Government, trade associations and
other interested parties to help shape future EU and global
regulation
To read more about TheCityUK, please visit
www.thecityuk.com
Ends
Notes for editors
About TheCityUK – structure and operations
TheCityUK will be an independent, not-for-profit organisation
and a company limited by guarantee.
Its strategic priorities will be guided by an Advisory Council
of financial services leaders spanning all sectors of the industry
throughout the UK.
The Board of Directors will be responsible for developing
strategy and overseeing delivery, including the remits and activity
of the organisation’s advisory groups and committees.
TheCityUK will integrate functions of IFSL (International
Financial Services London) into its operations as soon as possible
and by April 2011 the two organisations will form a unified
corporate structure with IFSL's membership of around 140 financial
services businesses transferring smoothly into TheCityUK.
There will be three principal strands to TheCityUk’s
work:
- To establish a permanent committee to oversee the domestic
promotion of the industry.
- To take on and develop the work of UK Trade & Investment's
Financial Services Sector Advisory Board (FSSAB) which will become
TheCityUK's Overseas Promotion Committee, retaining its
sub-committees that deal with the industry's current priority
markets of China, Russia, India, The Gulf and the USA. We
will also develop the FSSAB’s Regional Forum and its network of
Country Champions.
- The City of London Corporation’s EU Advisory Group will be the
basis of, and assume, an extended remit to become, the
International Regulatory Developments Group, which will advise
TheCityUK.
The Chairs of all three groups will be members of TheCityUK's
Board of Directors.
Ad-hoc sub-committees and common interest groups will be formed
as required to fulfil specific, time-bound tasks or where common
market or sector interests emerge.
TheCityUK will recruit a permanent executive team to cover
strategy setting, research, visits, events and marketing and
communications.
Initial funding is being provided by The City of London
Corporation. By 2011, TheCityUK will become a membership
organisation, funded largely by the financial services
industry.
An Advisory Council and a Board of Directors will be appointed
in due course.
About TheCityUK – original Steering Group members
Stuart Fraser, Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee at
the City of London Corporation
Lord Levene of Portsoken, Chairman of Lloyd's
Harvey McGrath, Chair of the London Development Agency and Chairman
of Prudential plc
André Villeneuve, Former Chairman of LIFFE, independent director of
United Technologies and Chairman of the City of London EU Advisory
Group
Mark Garvin, Chairman of JP Morgan Europe
David Blitzer, Senior MD in the Corporate Private Equity Group, the
Blackstone Group
Dominic Jermey, MD of Sectors Group, UKTI.
Stuart Popham, Chairman – TheCityUK
Stuart Popham has, since 2003, been the Senior Partner,
worldwide, of Clifford Chance LLP, one of the world's leading law
firms. He chairs the firm's Partnership Council, the
supervisory board of the worldwide firm. While being
responsible for a number of client relationships, he has particular
responsibility for Clifford Chance's reputation and values.
He joined Clifford Chance in 1976, qualifying as a solicitor in
1978 and was elected to the Partnership in 1984. He has held
various roles within the firm including leading the Banking and
Finance practice areas between 1999 and 2003. He was based in
the firm's Singapore office from 1981 to 1984 and is presently
based in the London office.
Stuart is a member of the International Advisory Board for the
CBI and Chairman of the CBI London Council. He sits on the EU
Advisory Board for the Corporation of the City of London and is an
International Envoy for London. He is a trustee of the Tower
Hamlets Business Education Partnership and a director of PlaNet
Finance, a charity which promotes micro finance to assist the
alleviation of poverty. Stuart is also a member of the
business Advisory Forum of the Saïd Business School, Oxford
University; he is a member of the DTI Asia Task Force, the UK India
Business Council and also sits on the Council of The Royal
Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House). Stuart is
a member of the London Promotional Council and a Patron of the
Whitehall Industry Group.
John Ingamells, Director – TheCityUK
John Ingamells graduated from the University of Liverpool with a
degree in Modern Languages in 1984. He worked at the FCO for HM
Diplomatic Service between 1984 and 1999. He was Political
Secretary to the British Embassy in Seoul between 1985 and 1990
before moving to the British Embassy in Buenos Aires as the Press
Attaché.
Following a short secondment from the FCO at IFSL (then ‘BI’) in
1999, John became the Director of Public Affairs at Fidelity
International, a role he fulfilled until 2008. In 2008 John was
appointed as Adviser to the Director of Economic Development at the
City of London Corporation.
In 2009, John was appointed by the City of London Corporation to
be the first Director of TheCityUK.
Press contact
For more information, or to arrange an interview with Stuart
Popham, please contact Greg Williams or James Abbott using the
details listed below:
Greg Williams - 020 7332 1455 or 07889 167 205
James Abbott - 020 7332 1754 or 07831 543 188