To become the No.1 international financial centre in the next five years
UK-based financial and professional services will:
Add more skilled, high-value jobs to the industry's current 2.3 million (2/3 outside London)
Attract even more inward investment into all sectors nationwide £35.5bn in financial services foreign direct investment between 2016-19
To ensure success as an international financial centre, the UK needs to focus on future growth opportunities like data and technology, sustainability, global investments and risk management.
A close working partnership between UK government, industry and regulators is also vital to deliver on these three objectives:
Making the UK's international finance centre more open and competitive by:
Attracting global talent through making visas cheaper and quicker to process
Strengthening capital markets by adopting the recommendations of Lord Hill's review
Boosting inward investment by amending the tax regime and clarifying investment screening rules
Adopting a dynamic, agile approach to regulation
Growing the UK's share of key global financial and related professional services opportunities by:
Liberalising trade with developed and emerging markets
Concluding regulatory agreements that support services trade
Securing recognition overseas for UK qualifications and improving labour mobility
Building new global markets around future demand, so making the UK:
A global hub for financial and professional services data and technology
A world-leader in global sustainability finance markets
The leading gateway for international investment
A global centre for risk management and risk advisory services
These steps can see the UK regain its status as the world’s No.1 international financial centre within five years. They will create more high-skilled, high-value UK jobs, attract more foreign direct investment into businesses in all sectors across the UK, put the UK at the forefront of technology and innovation, and position the UK as a leader in financing the growth of the green economy.
Our strategy outlines short-, medium- and long-term goals, all of which must be implemented together. Achieving the prize of being No.1 will require adopting a winning mindset to outcompete other financial centres. But the UK enters this challenge from a formidable starting position:
Now it is up to industry, regulators and government to seize the historic opportunities presented by the UK’s current position and make it happen.
