Flinging open the doors of change
In a land as wedded to tradition as the UK, it is hardly surprising that its principal securities market, the London Stock Exchange, has seldom distinguished itself as a crucible for new ideas and innovation. From its earliest coffee house days in the 18th century, the exchange has always managed to exude an aura of comfortable exclusivity and its popular image has been one of easy money and the right social connections.
While continuity against such a background makes for political stability and confidence, it also breeds complacency and a resistance to change. In the boom years of the post-war era, few countries have wrestled as unsuccessfully as the UK with the divergent forces of socioeconomic change and traditional values. The British have been viewed abroad by trading partners and competitors alike as clubby, restrictiove and introverted.
Since the election in 1979 of Margaret Thatcher's radical-thinking government, therefore, one challenging facing it has been that of breaking down the thick attitudinal walls that have compartmentalised so much of British life -- notably the City -- and contributed so manifestly to its national inefficiencies.
It is as part of this process that the reform of the nation's financial services industry is being undertaken.