With the UK out of the European Union, the government’s new ‘Global Britain’ agenda calls for the City of London to become the world’s most competitive financial services centre. Critical in determining the success or failure of these efforts will be deciding on how to move forward with retained EU law. Should Britain rely on common law as a tool of economic statecraft, or attempt to remain in close alignment to its European neighbours?

The Henry Jackson Society is pleased to welcome its panellists to this timely event and invites you to take part in this important discussion.

Graham Bishop is renowned for his vision and the courage to propose radical ideas, yet ground them in a mastery of the technical details of the financial system to the extent that he has even been referred to as a one-man think tank. He was elected as Chairman of the National Council  of the UK branch of the European Movement in 2020, after many years on the National Council, Executive and Vice-Chairman.

Due to his influence at the meeting point of politics, economics and finance, President Barroso appointed him in 2013 to be a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group looking into initiatives for the joint issuance of debt in the form of a redemption fund and eurobills.

For the past five years, Graham has been developing a proposal for a ‘Temporary Eurobill Fund’. He has already presented the idea to both the European Commission and European Parliament, as well as around the EU. As a result, the concept has evolved substantially. Such a development would change the euro area government debt market dramatically and mark another step towards “Completing the Economic and Monetary Union.”

A dedicated Europhile, Graham offers his experience and insights on a pro bono basis in key fields to EU policy-makers. His influence with them has built up since the early 1990s, when he pointed out to the Maastricht Treaty negotiators that government debt would have a fundamentally different quality in a common currency. He went on to play a key role in designing the changeover to the euro of national currencies, and of Europe’s capital markets.

Mr Bishop was a Special Advisor to the Treasury Select Committee in its examination in 2003 of the implications for United Kingdom membership of the Single Currency. He advised the Treasury Committee on the corresponding reports in 1998 and 1996.

Professor Dr Rosa María Lastra is the Sir John Lubbock Chair in Banking Law and Chair of the Institute of Banking and Finance Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS), Queen Mary University of London. She is a member of the Monetary Committee of the International Law Association (MOCOMILA), founding member of the European Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (ESFRC), research associate of the Financial Markets Group of the London School of Economics and Political Science, member of the European Banking Institute (EBI), member of the European Law Institute (ELI), member of the Sovereign Debt Scoping Forum of the FMLC (Financial Markets Law Committee), member of the International Insolvency Institute, member of the British Insurance Law Association and member of SUERF (the European Money and Finance Forum). She has served as a consultant to the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, United Nations (UNCTAD) and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. From November 2008 to June 2009 she acted as Specialist Adviser to the European Union Committee [Sub-Committee A] of the House of Lords regarding its Inquiry into EU Financial Regulation and responses to the financial crisis. She is a member of two expert panels of the European Parliament: the Monetary Panel since 2015 and the Banking Union (Resolution) Panel since 2016. She has contributed as expert witness in international arbitration cases.

In 2021, Professor Lastra has been appointed specialist adviser to the House of Lords in an inquiry on the Quantitative Easing (QE) programme of the Bank of England, conducted by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee (ECAM) chaired by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean.

Prior to coming to London, she was Assistant Professor of International Banking at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs in New York (1993-1996). From January 1992 to September 1993 she was a consultant in the Legal Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C. From 2008 to 2010 she was a Visiting Professor of the University of Stockholm. Professor Lastra is co-director of the Sovereign Debt Forum, a collaboration between Georgetown and Queen Mary, and Principal Investigator in the Legal and Economic Conceptions of Money project funded by the ESRC under the Rebuilding Macroeconomics network (NIESR).

Bepi Pezzulli is the Global Britain watcher for Milano Finanza and Class-CNBC. On the subject, he has authored An alternative view of Brexit (2018); Moving away from Europe to regain centrality in the world: Brexit is both radical and conservative (2019); and The recovery of the City of London’s competitive edge in global capital markets (2021). His research interest is economic statecraft. He investigates the interplay of economics and geopolitics in order to monitor the attempted redistribution of economic power from West to East. He undertakes policy studies to leverage economic and financial power for national security purposes and formulate defensive strategies to protect economic leadership, as well as affirmative strategies for investment and trade promotion. He received a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University and is qualified as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales.

Barnabas (Barney) Reynolds is Global Head of the Financial Services Industry Group and is also a member of the firm’s Executive Group.

He is one of the leading financial institution practitioners. He specialises in banking and financial markets law and regulation, clearing, settlement, derivatives, asset management and insurance regulation. His advises banks, asset managers, insurers, financial infrastructure providers, governments and public bodies on regulatory, governance, enforcement and securities law matters, as well as on acquisitions, disputes, bank resolution and insolvency matters. He has advised on many of the most transformative transactions and has extensive experience in helping clients with their domestic and cross-border legal and regulatory situations. He also helps smaller companies navigate their way to success.

Barney has authored numerous books on financial services, which have been highly influential around the world. His thinking on financial services policy, law and regulation has been adopted by the UK and other Governments. He has been called to give evidence to Parliamentary Committees in the UK and elsewhere, and he works with the main industry bodies and regulators.  He has helped to set up new legal and regulatory regimes, including ADGM in the United Arab Emirates, leading the teams drafting the laws and regulations.

He is ranked in the Hall of Fame by Legal 500.

Sam Ashworth-Hayes is the Director of Studies at the Henry Jackson Society. Prior to joining HJS, Sam co-founded a startup using satellite imagery to support the installation of urban green infrastructure, raised funding and built a team to develop prototype products and deliver the first commercial trials. He has also previously worked designing field and lab experiments in behavioural economics, and as a journalist and researcher. Outside of academia Sam writes regularly for outlets including The Spectator, CapX, and National Review on economics and politics, and has made media appearances for the BBC, GB News, and Times Radio. He holds an MPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford, and a Bachelors in the same from the University of York.

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EVENT SUMMARY

On the 9th of December 2021, Sam Ashworth Hayes, the Director of Studies at the Henry Jackson Society, Barnabas Reynolds, Global Head of the Financial Services Industry Group and member of the firm’s Executive Group, Bepi Pezzulli, Global Britain watcher for Milano Finanza and Class-CNBC, Professor Dr Rosa Maria Lastra, the Sir Jon Lubbock Chair in Banking Law and Chair of the Institute of Banking and Finance Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS), and Graham Bishop, elected Chairman of the National Council of the UK branch of the European Movement, discussed whether Britain should rely on common law as a tool of economic statecraft, or attempt to remain in close alignment to its European neighbours. Bepi Pezzulli began the discussion by introducing his theory that to successfully execute the global greed and agenda, the City of London must become the most competitive financial services Centre in the world. The conversation continued by discussing Bepi’s paper and the implications of leaving the EU and Brexit.