City minister launches asset management tech group amid post-Brexit reforms

April 17, 2023

The Treasury is launching a fresh drive to bolster Britain's asset management sector during a period of intense scrutiny of the government's post-Brexit plans for the financial services industry.

Sky News has learnt that Andrew Griffith, the City minister, will hold talks on Monday with fund management bosses after deciding to revive a body called the Asset Management Taskforce.

Among those in attendance are expected to be Patrick Thomson, CEO of JP Morgan Asset Management and chair of the Investment Association; Peter Harrison, the Schroders CEO; and Anne Richards; the CEO of Fidelity International.

Representatives from the Financial Conduct Authority and other stakeholders are also expected to attend the meeting.

Sources said Mr Griffith would launch a technology working group examining ways to bolster the UK's asset management sector - one of the City's most important drivers of economic activity.

Michelle Scrimgeour, the chief executive of Legal & General Investment Management, is expected to chair the new working group.

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It will look at trends tokenisation, artificial intelligence, distributed ledger technology, and blockchain, and explore their potential deployment across the fund management industry, the sources added.

Mr Griffith's push will come as the chancellor's so-called 'Edinburgh Reforms' target an improvement in the City's post-Brexit competitiveness.

These include an overhaul of the regime which supervises senior executives in the banking sector, and replacing the European Union's Solvency II framework which regulates insurers' balance sheets, which ministers believe will unleash a wave of private sector investment.

The Treasury declined to comment.

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