February saw the IPT arrange two cross-party visits to two of the UK’s most important financial institutions. With the spring budget taking place in March and recent developments that will have a significant and lasting impact on the finances of businesses and constituents across the country, we thought it appropriate to focus February’s Industry Visit Programme on Britian’s financial landscape.

London Stock Exchange Group

On 6 February, we were delighted to take a large cross-party delegation of parliamentarians to the London Stock Exchange in the City of London. The delegation consisted of Karin Smyth MP, Stephen McPartland MP, Damien Moore MP, Alan Mak MP, Peter Gibson MP, Alicia Kearns MP, Rupa Huq MP, Seema Malhotra MP, Sammy Wilson MP, Sir Peter Bottomley MP, Jackie Doyle-Price MP, Lord Rogan, Lord Stevens of Birmingham, Lord Mountevans and Lord Hamilton of Epsom.

LSEG is a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider. It plays a vital role in the world’s financial system. Operating across three business divisions – Data & Analytics, Capital Markets, and Post Trade – LSEG seeks to enable the sustainable growth and stability of its customers and their communities.

The visit began with the trading opening ceremony led by the Father of the House Sir Peter Bottomley and Shadow Skills minister Seema Malhotra. The ceremony was followed by a roundtable discussion with senior LSEG executives including the Head of Capital Markets and Head of Sustainable Finance Strategic Initiatives. The discussion focused on a variety of areas including how LSEG is shaping the conversation regarding how the UK can strengthen the global competitiveness of its capital markets, the various initiatives LSEG is involved in to support companies as they transition to Net Zero and LSEG’s perspective on the use of digital technologies to tackle financial crime, drive productivity and sustain a resilient and co-operative digital economy.   

Bank of England

Later in the month, the IPT took a cross-party delegation of 19 parliamentarians on a visit to the Bank of England. As the UK’s central bank, the Bank of England’s mission is to deliver monetary and financial stability for the UK. The Bank of England also prudentially regulates and supervises financial services firms through the Prudential Regulation Authority, produces banknotes, supervises payments services firms and acts as a settlement agent for banks and others who are part of several payment systems.

The session consisted of a series of talks covering key aspects of the Bank’s work that affect the lives of the parliamentarian’s constituents on a daily basis, beginning with insightful contributions from Rosie Smith, Agent for the East Midlands, and Huw Pill, Chief economist, on the role of agents, monetary policy and how the Bank is addressing the pressing inflation challenges that characterise the current economic climate.

This was followed with two further sessions, one on the work of the Financial Policy Committee and the Prudential Regulation Committee which discussed how they keep the financial system safe, identify and remove risk and the Bank’s role in mortgage affordability testing. The final session discussed the future of money, including the Bank’s exploratory work on a digital pound and what the Bank is doing to regulate the wholesale distribution of cash.

The visit concluded with a tour of the Bank’s Parlours with a museum officer, which gave attendees a great opportunity to learn about the Bank’s 330-year history and its growth from a small bank of 19 staff to the central bank it is today.