Bank rules could hit City
TOUGHER banking rules imposed by British and European regulators could damage London’s position as an international financial centre, warned the chief executive of UBS.
Oswald Grubel said rival Asian and American centres could become attractive to banks as a result of strict new rules. He warned the government against neglecting the City, criticising it for not doing enough to promote London’s finance centre.
“The government is so quiet about [the City]. Only behind closed doors do they pay lip service to wanting to keep the City. If it is abandoned by the government one day, God help you,” he told the Financial Times.
He added: “Companies like us, who have 7,000 people in the City, have to make commitments, not from today to tomorrow, we have to make 15-year lease commitments. We would like to know where the City is going in the next few years.”