Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today met with Sir Callum McCarthy, Chair of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in London, to discuss ongoing trends and the increasing competitiveness of global financial markets. The meeting follows the Mayor and Senator Charles E. Schumer's release of a groundbreaking report last month calling for a major shift in Federal regulation and policy to halt the threat of financial businesses and jobs from leaving New York for London and other cities around the world. The FSA was created in 1997 as the sole regulator for the United Kingdom's banking, securities, insurance, and investment services, and serves as the United Kingdom's listing authority. In the United States, however, the regulatory structure is a thicket of complicated and stifling rules, a situation exacerbated by the flawed implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

"This weekend, I met with Sir Callum McCarthy of the United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority," said Mayor Bloomberg. "The FSA is an example of the kind of streamlined and responsive regulatory framework Congress must implement if New York City is to remain the financial capital of the world. As Senator Schumer, Governor Spitzer and I said last month, the Federal government needs to re-examine Sarbanes-Oxley and create a regulatory system that eliminates inefficiencies so that financial jobs and businesses remain in the United States. Moving forward, Sir Callum and I have agreed to continued discussions that will aid in my and Senator Schumer's fight to revitalize U.S. financial markets."

In addition to regulatory restructuring, last month's report also called for litigation reform, the easing of immigration restrictions, and other reforms that would protect U.S. global competitiveness. Left unchecked, today's trends could significantly negatively impact the U.S. economy. The United States would miss out on between $15 billion and $30 billion in financial services revenues annually by 2011. Those revenues, if retained, could translate into as many as 30,000 to 60,000 jobs.