The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, hosted US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at Downing Street recently for a joint industry roundtable. The meeting reaffirmed the close ties between London and New York as leading global financial centres and announced the creation of a new Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future.
Purpose of the task force
The task force will provide recommendations to both governments on how the UK and US can work more closely together in areas such as:
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Digital assets - exploring both short-term opportunities while regulation is still developing and long-term possibilities for innovation in wholesale digital markets.
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Capital markets - identifying ways to make it easier for UK and US firms to raise funds across borders, reducing unnecessary burdens and strengthening competitiveness.
The task force will feed its recommendations through the existing UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group and report within 180 days.
The government has published a raft of consultations on tax and business policies. It is worth being aware of these, as they are a good indicator of future policy direction likely to impact small businesses.
Employers may worry about the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) following a series of press stories that have highlighted the abuse of the system.