He said that leaving the EU allowed the government to start regulatory changes that would make the financial services sector more competitive.
“And that, I think, will be positive for London. We’re very much open for business.”
‘Nobody can compete with the depth and breadth of what we do, even in post-Brexit London.’
Nicholas Lyons, City of London Lord Mayor
That is the message he is bringing when he addresses the Australian Superannuation Funds Association’s (ASFA) conference in Brisbane on Wednesday.
“Australia has always impressed me with the way that they have worked constructively and consistently in broadening their footprint internationally, so this is a natural place for Aussies to come,” he said.
Lyons will blitz the country meeting with state governments and Assistant Treasury Minister Stephen Jones.
But he says London is on a mission to learn from Australia too, given it has a healthy banking system that survived the global financial crisis, and one of the world’s largest combined pension pots worth $3 trillion, according to the ASFA.
“Australian financial institutions have been extremely successful,” he said.
“I want us to move our pension system to a much better place in terms of how we utilise it to support the growth and productive economy, so I think we have things to learn from what the Australians have done.”
Lyons would also like to see more investment from China and Arab countries. “I don’t accept an accusation that we should abstract ourselves from doing business with or communicating with China, or the Gulf states or any other hydrocarbon economies, quite the reverse.
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“If we want to play our part responsibly in the thought leadership around greener, sustainable finance we need to engage with those countries.”
He urged more Australian expats to move to the British capital, saying predictions of the death of the city due to the COVID-19 pandemic had also been wildly overblown.
“There’s huge demand for office space in London, which means that developers are taking the long-term, very bullish view of London, quite rightly.
