Boris Johnson has created a committee of high profile bankers and financiers to help London maintain its competitive edge as a world financial centre. Johnson said,
I am keen this group finds out exactly what the leading industry players think and makes clear recommendations to all those concerned with upholding one the UK’s most important economic sectors.
As New York and London slip, Dubai is quickly becoming the hot-spot for financial services—and oil does not have as much to do with it as one might think. Dubai has the world’s lowest tax rate, between 10 and 25 percent lower than in the United Kingdom. Living away from home in a Middle-Eastern desert may not be ideal, but for many it is a difference of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of pounds, euros, yen, or dollars. That should be enough to appease any homesickness.
If London wants to maintain its edge, it needs to be a friendlier place for business. This means drastically cutting the heavy taxes—both for individuals and corporations—and giving British and international corporations strong incentives to come, stay, or return.
