Jeremy Hunt holds meeting with bank bosses in bid to boost interest in City

23 January 2024 , 14:59

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Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has met with the UK's biggest banks (Image: No credit)

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been in talks with top UK bank bosses to boost interest in the City.

He and Bim Afolami, the economic secretary to the Treasury, met with leaders from Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander UK and the London Stock Exchange Group.

The meeting was part of a wider effort to improve competitiveness in the financial services industry. This comes after a lack of stock market listings and several listed companies leaving London markets.

The discussion took place at Downing Street, where they talked about the future of the country's economy and banking sector. Top bank bosses, including Barclays' chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan and Lloyds chief executive Charlie Nunn, shared their thoughts on opportunities for the banking sector and how to make the UK industry more competitive.

Last year, the Government introduced the Edinburgh Reforms, aiming to change rules in the City. These included new remits for watchdogs, repealing some EU rules to simplify listing on UK stock markets, and relaxing rules for banks. In an attempt to make the UK a more competitive financial hub post-Brexit, the Government also scrapped a cap on bonuses for bankers last year.

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The new rules mean that there is no cap on the yearly bonuses given to bank and building society employees, which has led to criticisms from trade unions and the Labour Party. The Treasury stated: "The Chancellor and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury set out that the Government would continue to engage with the industry to find new and better ways to unlock growth across the whole of the UK."

Recently, a number of businesses listed on the top London stock markets have been bought by private investors, resulting in a quiet period for the City. The Restaurant Group was acquired by US company Apollo last year, making it a privately owned business.

Similar fates have occurred for ScS, a sofa chain, and logistics group Wincanton, both now in private hands after accepting bids. Transactions like these led to a record low of just 23 companies listing on the London stock market in 2023, the lowest since records began in 2010, according to audit company EY.

Jeremy Hunt's meeting participants, including all the banks and the London Stock Exchange Group, chose not to comment on the matter.

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Lawrence Matheson