5 ms·

I don't think you understand how finance work, the UK has one of the best financial regulatory regimes in the world, market participants want to be in London no

by ig1 11y ago

I don't think you understand how finance work, the UK has one of the best financial regulatory regimes in the world, market participants want to be in London not because it's unregulated but because it's well regulated. If you have too much regulation you stiffle innovation and development, but too little means that investors don't trust institutions with their money. So it's a trade-off between the two factors.

ZenoArrow 11y ago
> "I don't think you understand how finance work, the UK has one of the best financial regulatory regimes in the world" If it's that well regulated, why did the subprime mortgage crisis hit us so hard (compared to the countries that escaped relatively unscathed)?
- dagw 11y ago
  The regulation was optimized for making the normal case as efficient as possible, not for mitigating the worst case.
  - ZenoArrow 11y ago
    Yet other countries avoided the bad deals, how did they manage to do that? There are a number of countries that experienced no recession after the subprime crisis... Australia, Brazil, China, India, Poland, etc... If the UK's financial markets were well run, why did they suffer?
    - branchless 11y ago
      The UK media sang as one "global financial crisis" in the wake of 2008 and I'm afraid that some people simply cannot think for themselves. My favourite Bush Jr quote: > "You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."
    - dagw 11y ago
      They where well run from the point of view that they made finance fast, simple and safe for a regulatory stand point for the companies involved. This has nothing to to do with insulating the wider economy from the folly of those financial institutions.
      - ZenoArrow 11y ago
        "This has nothing to to do with insulating the wider economy from the folly of those financial institutions." In that case that's where we differ, because that's certainly what I'd expect a country to be guarding against to earn the 'well run' status.
- debacle 11y ago
  Likely because it is far more desirable to have an investment property in London than any other city in Europe.
  - branchless 11y ago
    It is more desirable because the UK is having a big fire sale to try and stay afloat. Got your money running drugs? From a corrupt regime? No problem - the UK won't check. Plus all the UK population are busy working hard paying taxes to pay the police to protect your property.
    - AnimalMuppet 11y ago
      "Fire sale" and "property prices are insanely high" seem like disjoint concepts to me...
      - branchless 11y ago
        Guess you don't understand that the UK is selling a lot of land overseas then.
        AnimalMuppet 11y ago
        I actually do understand that. That doesn't make it a fire sale, though. In particular, a fire sale doesn't just mean "selling at a fast pace". It means selling at a fast pace due to a discounted price. That's where the term fails to match land sales in the UK.
branchless 11y ago
I've worked in it for a long time and read many books plus lived in London for 12 years. The UK was known to be "light touch" that's why all the banks locate there. No criminal prosecutions were brought from 2008. Lots of US banks put their bad deals through London. You have no clue what you are talking about.
- jamespo 11y ago
  What financial centres have brought prosecutions from 2008?
  - branchless 11y ago
    The main two by far are the US and the UK. The US didn't bring much but it has pursued banks more when it comes to fining them (I'd agree it's a poor second but better than the UK). The US also let Lehman go under and let their housing market crash. The UK has done all it possibly can to wind the clock back to 2007 so they can set The City running again like it never happened. The UK FSA has come up with nothing and since the crash we've had more state guarantees for the banks than before.
SixSigma 11y ago
I think it could be your knowledge that falls short. The City of London is not governed by Westminster. See http://treasureislands.org/ http://treasureislands.org/
venomsnake 11y ago
LIBOR rigging was regulation at its prime.
- branchless 11y ago
  Which the BoE was implicated in but then it's all ok as another part of the UK establishment cleared them. Phew!

by ig1 11y ago

ZenoArrow 11y ago

> "I don't think you understand how finance work, the UK has one of the best financial regulatory regimes in the world" If it's that well regulated, why did the subprime mortgage crisis hit us so hard (compared to the countries that escaped relatively unscathed)?

dagw 11y ago
The regulation was optimized for making the normal case as efficient as possible, not for mitigating the worst case.
- ZenoArrow 11y ago
  Yet other countries avoided the bad deals, how did they manage to do that? There are a number of countries that experienced no recession after the subprime crisis... Australia, Brazil, China, India, Poland, etc... If the UK's financial markets were well run, why did they suffer?
  - branchless 11y ago
    The UK media sang as one "global financial crisis" in the wake of 2008 and I'm afraid that some people simply cannot think for themselves. My favourite Bush Jr quote: > "You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."
  - dagw 11y ago
    They where well run from the point of view that they made finance fast, simple and safe for a regulatory stand point for the companies involved. This has nothing to to do with insulating the wider economy from the folly of those financial institutions.
    - ZenoArrow 11y ago
      "This has nothing to to do with insulating the wider economy from the folly of those financial institutions." In that case that's where we differ, because that's certainly what I'd expect a country to be guarding against to earn the 'well run' status.
debacle 11y ago
Likely because it is far more desirable to have an investment property in London than any other city in Europe.
- branchless 11y ago
  It is more desirable because the UK is having a big fire sale to try and stay afloat. Got your money running drugs? From a corrupt regime? No problem - the UK won't check. Plus all the UK population are busy working hard paying taxes to pay the police to protect your property.
  - AnimalMuppet 11y ago
    "Fire sale" and "property prices are insanely high" seem like disjoint concepts to me...
    - branchless 11y ago
      Guess you don't understand that the UK is selling a lot of land overseas then.
      - AnimalMuppet 11y ago
        I actually do understand that. That doesn't make it a fire sale, though. In particular, a fire sale doesn't just mean "selling at a fast pace". It means selling at a fast pace due to a discounted price. That's where the term fails to match land sales in the UK.

branchless 11y ago

I've worked in it for a long time and read many books plus lived in London for 12 years. The UK was known to be "light touch" that's why all the banks locate there. No criminal prosecutions were brought from 2008. Lots of US banks put their bad deals through London. You have no clue what you are talking about.

jamespo 11y ago
What financial centres have brought prosecutions from 2008?
- branchless 11y ago
  The main two by far are the US and the UK. The US didn't bring much but it has pursued banks more when it comes to fining them (I'd agree it's a poor second but better than the UK). The US also let Lehman go under and let their housing market crash. The UK has done all it possibly can to wind the clock back to 2007 so they can set The City running again like it never happened. The UK FSA has come up with nothing and since the crash we've had more state guarantees for the banks than before.

SixSigma 11y ago

I think it could be your knowledge that falls short. The City of London is not governed by Westminster. See http://treasureislands.org/ http://treasureislands.org/

venomsnake 11y ago

LIBOR rigging was regulation at its prime.

branchless 11y ago
Which the BoE was implicated in but then it's all ok as another part of the UK establishment cleared them. Phew!