The Power of Big Finance - How to reclaim our democracy from the banking lobby June 2022

Decades of economic policymaking has prized the growth of the City of London above all other regions of the country and sectors of the economy. [...] If we are to genuinely ‘level up’ the whole of the UK and address inequalities, we will need to ensure that the voice of the City of London does not overpower all others. [...] To achieve financial policymaking that genuinely serves society, we need to introduce new rules that guard against conflicts of interest, disincentivise parliamentarians, civil servants and regulators from shifting to and from the financial sector, improve lobbying transparency, and establish a robust regulatory framework for the financial sector aligned with the public interest. [...] False Powerful financial institutions and their allies in government are attempting to Narratives build political and public support for the sector by presenting it as the ‘engine of the economy’ and a solution to environmental breakdown. [...] These narratives misrepresent the overall impact of the UK financial sector, which neglects investment in small businesses and the real economy, and continues to finance fossil fuels to the tune of tens of billions of pounds annually.