Letter to the FCA/Bank of England on keeping markets open
Dear Andrew Bailey/Chris Woolard
RE: COVID-19 pandemic: THE NEED TO KEEP MARKETS OPEN
I am writing to you on behalf of the Board of The Investment Association to call on the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority, to endeavour to ensure that UK public markets stay open during this crisis.
Given on-going market uncertainty and continued media speculation, which is unhelpful during the current situation, we wish to assure you that our industry supports the continued opening of public markets.
As investment managers, our utmost priority remains serving our clients’ needs in these testing times. Access to public equity and debt markets is a critical component in our ability to do so – to manage savers’ investments and mitigate risks, discover prices, access cash, and support companies. Our industry also provides Governments around the world with the ability to raise money to fund the unprecedented scale of Covid-19 support programmes.
We recognise that markets have experienced extreme volatility, high trading volumes, and indeed diminished liquidity in recent days. However, closure of the markets themselves would not resolve these issues. In fact, it is our view that any closure would have the opposite effect to that intended and even the rumour of market closures can lead to adverse consequences for savers.
We wish to work with Government, jointly with all other stakeholders, to ensure that public markets remain open through the global pandemic. Further, we stand ready, to support you in finding innovative solutions for any parts of the market that are struggling in these volatile times.
This action has also been called for in a joint European trade association letter to Finance Ministers and the European Commission, and would deliver on the Financial Stability Board’s opinion expressed in its guidance. We also note the European Securities & Markets Authority’s statement.
Your sincerely,
Chris Cummings,
CEO of the Investment Association
For further information, please contact:
Katie Martin, Head of Communications: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)20 7269 4655
David Parton, Communications Executive: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)20 7269 4625
IA press office: [email protected]
T: 020 7269 4696
About the Investment Association (IA):
- The IA champions UK asset management, supporting British savers, investors and businesses. Our 250 members manage £7.7 trillion of assets and the asset management industry supports 115,000 jobs across the UK.
- Our mission is to make investment better. Better for clients, so they achieve their financial goals. Better for companies, so they get the capital they need to grow. And better for the economy, so everyone prospers.
- Our purpose is to ensure investment managers are in the best possible position to:
- Build people’s resilience to financial adversity
- Help people achieve their financial aspirations
- Enable people to maintain a decent standard of living as they grow older
- Contribute to economic growth through the efficient allocation of capital.
- The money our members manage is in a wide variety of investment vehicles including authorised investment funds, pension funds and stocks and shares ISAs.
- The UK is the second largest investment management centre in the world, after the US and manages 37% of all assets managed in Europe.
