In the first of a number of posts today, this post looks at some of the noises emanating from the financial elite within the U.K., particularly with regards to Brexit. It should come as no surprise that the decision to leave the E.U. has caused anxiety amongst business leaders within the City, and recent political developments have not made a positive impact in that regard. So, in this post, we shall look at some of the concerns that are being raised, and the impact that certain developments may have upon the City, and also the British society moreover; ultimately, the question developing is how the secession will play out in terms of finding a balance between the decision of the (very slight) majority of the electorate, and business within the U.K. The first development that needs to be examined is the political manoeuvrings that took place last week when, in Parliament, the Government saw its attempt to ‘ promise to give assurances ’ on a Parliamentary consultation over the fi...

In this third and final post of the day, we will take a brief look at a proposal being advanced today by the Labour Party, which attempts to convey their commitment to redistributing wealth across the U.K. rather than its current concentration in the South-East of the Country. This review will only be brief because, given the political landscape, it is all that it can be at the time of writing; however, whilst the suggested aim to redistribute the economic dynamic across the Country is hardly surprising given the stated aims and objectives of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, in reality the question this suggestion raises is two-fold: is the Party operating on any solid basis of reality, and then do they recognise the reality of the problems i.e. their root causes, or are they focusing on and subsequently adding to the façade that serves to preserve the current power structure? Surely, as recent and historical evidence suggests, anything other than a ‘root and branch’ redevelopment will...

This week in the world of business has been dominated by massive trade deals and bitter trade disputes, with this post suggesting that a link between the two is that the outcome of these developments portrays a vision for those British voters who voted to leave the E.U. of what post-Brexit Britain will look like. In what is proving to be a great advert for the E.U. and its members not following the path of the British (a message sharply delivered by the French and German electorate this year, despite the rise of the AfD ), the plight of Canadian company Bombardier is, for a variety of reasons, bringing the reality home to the British in a remarkable way. In this post then the focus will be on the ongoing trade dispute between Bombardier and Boeing, which is quickly elevating into a political catastrophe, and the merger of French company Alstom with its German Counterpart Siemens (leaving Bombardier in the cold), which in itself demonstrates the capability that exists within a co...

Here in  Financial Regulation Matters we have looked at the potential landscape for British finance post-Brexit on a number of occasions. Firstly, we looked at the battle for the marquee names in the wake of the U.K.’s secession from the Union between France and Germany. Then, in a later post, we discussed the strength of one of the frontrunners in the battle for post-Brexit business – Dublin. So, in today’s post, we will look at how this issue is developing – as it will no doubt continue to – and how the City of London is being put under increased pressure. Yet, in keeping with the underlying sentiment of Financial Regulation Matters , we will conclude by looking at what effect these pressures may have upon the wider society, particularly in Britain but in Europe also. Earlier this week, it was announced that Barclays are in talks with Irish regulators about substantially increasing its presence in the Country after Brexit, with the company noting that Ireland represents...

Today’s post looks at the news that the Financial Conduct Authority, the British regulator in charge of protecting the interests of the investing public (amongst other mandates), is considering reducing the standard required to list on the London Stock Exchange in order to attract the proposed public offering of 5% of Saudi Aramco’s shares – which will be the largest ever flotation. In just the second ever post here in Financial Regulation Matters , we discussed the potential of Britain succumbing to unscrupulous forces in the wake of Brexit, primarily due to desperation. More recently, we discussed how crucial corporate governance reforms have fallen by the wayside because of the decision to leave, and today’s news concerning Aramco is, unfortunately, a manifestation of the two posts – there is a real fear that the need to look attractive to big business is fundamentally setting the ‘smaller’ components of British society back considerably; this time, minority investors are in th...

Even though the U.K. Parliament has not yet formally signalled its intent to the leave the European Union, the understanding that they will is causing fervent speculation in a number of different areas. This is arguably because of the almost-common understanding that leaving an economic and political bloc must result in seismic shifts, simply owing to the very nature of things. So, in this post the focus will be on this shift, with a specific reference to the notion of power . At this current stage of proceedings we are seeing conscious strategies coming into focus as the battle for financial supremacy in the region begins to intensify, and it is these strategies that can detail for us the likely course of action that the different parties will take. In renegotiating and reorganising, the U.K. is currently experiencing what is, essentially, an identity crisis; it has long been dependent upon its Financial Services sector , and has been recognised, globally, as being a leading fina...