Alan Greenspan: A capital city that is made for capital
From a speech by the chairman of the US Federal Reserve at the opening of the Treasury's new building in London
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The ties between the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve were cemented in the 1920s in that extraordinary relationship between Benjamin Strong, the president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, and Montague Norman, the Bank of England governor.
Those ties endure to this day. Today's remarkably sophisticated international financial system took root several centuries ago within hailing distance of Her Majesty's Treasury. London, and other British financial centres, had developed by World War I into the dominant lender to the world, accounting for half the world's trade financing, and London remains, with New York, at the top of the world's financial pyramid.
The City has a long tradition of leading the world in foreign-exchange trading and currently conducts twice the volume of New York. London has stayed on top in the provision of financial services despite the emergence of the euro, which some expected would divert a significant share of foreign-exchange trading to a single centre on the Continent.
Although financial sector activity in Frankfurt has increased substantially in the past few years, largely reflecting the growing importance of the euro, trading volumes there are still well below those of London and New York.
Another potential challenge to the City's prominence in the provision of financial services has been the telecommunications revolution, which presumably should diminish the need for physical proximity to conduct transactions. However, history, together with London's long, should I say sterling, reputation as a place to do business, seems to have spurred market participants to continue to trade through London.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments