Date:21/03/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/21/stories/2007032105571000.htm

Back London Mayor visiting India

K.R. Srivats

London March 20 The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Mr Alderman John Stuttard, will lead a high-powered business delegation to India from May 19-27. Besides discussing various regulatory issues relating to the financial sector of both India and the UK, Mr Stuttard is also likely to make a case for further opening up of Indian banking and legal services sector to foreign players.

"To need an efficient financial services industry, we need everyone to participate in it," he told a group of visiting Indian journalists here. The business delegation will comprise 40-50 members and will visit Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata during that week. Mr Stuttard, who is the head of the City of London Corporation, is also responsible for promoting and representing the interests of the UK-based financial services industry.

Meanwhile, the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) launched last week showed London and New York as the only two truly global financial centres, well ahead of the two Asian Centres of Hong Kong (3rd place) and Singapore (4th place). Mumbai is ranked at 39th.

This is an index of competitiveness between 46 of the world's financial cities. Mr Stuttard said that there was a need to arrive at some form of understanding (between India, the UK and others) on the best form of regulation for the financial services industry, which is getting "more and more globalised, and less and less national". He favours a principle-based approach, as adopted by the UK, as against the detailed rule-based regulations developed by the US.