Is tax damaging London’s position as a financial market leader? It seems that some think so. The CBI has recently published their “Future of Financial Services” study in conjunction with PwC and there is a mixed bag of opinions. Chairman of HSBC, Stephen Green, said that he thought London would lose some market share to centres such as Hong Kong and Singapore due to ‘shifts in the global economy’ but that it wouldn’t lose its importance and still has fundamental advantages. Others disagreed, and many cited tax as the problem.

According to the Telegraph: “Stuart Fraser from the City of London Corporation said: ‘The only people who pay the taxes are those who love being here or can’t move. Those that can will move. The question is where the tipping point is. London’s strengths are fantastic. But you can’t constantly bash it and tax it and expect it to stay that way.’”

So what is the future for the City? Obviously the credit crunch and the subsequent regulations it provoked had a substantial effect and no doubt it will lose some business over it. But London has been one of the world’s biggest financial centres for a long time because it has so much to offer. I can’t see that changing dramatically any time soon.