Government loses key member of UKFI
UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the body set up to manage UK taxpayer banking stakes, has today lost a key member of the team with John Compton set to return to the City. This is the man who took a massive pay cut back in November 2008, leaving Merrill Lynch to join the UK government's new setup, but he was recently overlooked for the top job within UKFI and this appears to have been one of the main reasons for his departure.
This is a body blow for the UK government which has seen a number of key personnel leave UKFI to return to the City. Only yesterday we saw Boris Johnson suggesting that the UK government is playing a very dangerous game with introduction of the 50% banking bonus tax rate and we could see top talent from the financial industry move overseas. In many ways it seems to be one step forward for the UK government and two steps back with regards to the financial sector.
Boris Johnson also claims that his recent conversations with a number of global banks with significant operations in the UK lead him to believe that upwards of 9000 bankers may well be reconsidering their position within the UK financial market. Not only would this be a massive blow to the financial sector in the UK but it would also reduce tax income for the UK government. Will we see another U-turn before or after the election?
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