Since my last update, we have continued to focus on the issues of greatest importance to members and the wider industry; influencing key policy debates, convening members with senior policymakers and stakeholders, and making strong progress on strengthening bilateral relations and collaboration with key markets across the world.
Getting your feedback on our work and outcomes is hugely important. Our annual member survey is currently open, and if you haven’t yet had the chance to complete it, I encourage you to do so. You can access it here. It is a great opportunity to share your thoughts on our work and progress and help shape our agenda going forward. The survey is conducted independently by Mustard, and all responses are anonymised. You can also enter a prize draw to win one of three donations of £250 to a charity of your choice.
After delivering two high-impact conferences in recent months – our International and Future Skills conferences – we’re making final preparations for our Annual Conference, which will take place on 18 June at the QEII in London. This event draws on our ‘No time to lose’ report with PwC and will explore key areas for focus to ensure our industry remains globally competitive and continues to enable growth across the economy. Alongside a great line-up of panellists and speakers, we’re delighted to be welcoming the Leader of the Opposition, Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, who will deliver a keynote speech and join me for a short in conversation. You can register to attend on our website.
We’re hugely grateful to our Annual Conference sponsors, DLA Piper, Citadel Securities and Guernsey Finance; to Freshfields for their sponsorship of our International Conference and for partnering with us on a report that explores ‘Bridging the infrastructure funding gap’; and to the Financial Services Skills Commission – our partner on the Future Skills Conference and sponsors of that event, KPMG, Lloyds Banking Group and Nationwide. Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to deliver such a strong series of fantastic events. If you’re interested in partnering with us on any of our events or activities, please do get in touch.
It’s been good to see evidence that we’ve provided to consultations, parliamentary inquires and briefings given to policymakers being positively reflected in various reports and influencing debate. The Business and Trade Select Committee’s report on ‘Investing in the UK economy’ reflected several of our policy positions, with its chair, Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, referencing John Godfrey’s evidence about the gap between investible opportunities and how they’re presented to prospective investors, coining it ‘the Godfrey Gap’. We were also recently cited in the ‘Regulating for growth’ and ‘Stablecoins: waiting for regulation’ inquiry reports. During a recent debate in the House of Lords on the Financial Services and Markets Bill, several peers highlighted our policy positions on regulatory accountability and the industry’s role in supporting growth.
I recently joined our US Market Advisory Group on a delegation to Washington DC and New York, to meet with senior lawmakers, officials, businesses, trade bodies and think tanks. The visit was an important opportunity to advance discussions on the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future, to identify areas where the UK and US can work more closely together. We heard valuable perspectives on the political and regulatory environment in the US, and the practical steps needed to strengthen one of the world’s most important financial services relationships.
Our international engagement work continues over the coming weeks with planned economic and financial dialogues with India and China, a delegation to Japan, and our participation at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk.
Thank you, as always, to members and partners for your continued support. We look forward to keeping our momentum going as we head into summer.
