
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, hosted US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at Downing Street recently for a joint industry roundtable. The meeting reaffirmed the close ties between London and New York as leading global financial centres and announced the creation of a new Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future.
Purpose of the task force
The task force will provide recommendations to both governments on how the UK and US can work more closely together in areas such as:
-
Digital assets - exploring both short-term opportunities while regulation is still developing and long-term possibilities for innovation in wholesale digital markets.
-
Capital markets - identifying ways to make it easier for UK and US firms to raise funds across borders, reducing unnecessary burdens and strengthening competitiveness.
The task force will feed its recommendations through the existing UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group and report within 180 days.

The announcement of mandatory payrolling for Benefits In Kind was originally expected to start in April 2027, but following industry pressure, it will now be introduced in two phases.

One in four of Britain’s manufacturers has moved production abroad or is seriously considering it, according to research by Make UK, formerly the Engineering Employers' Federation.
