Investment banks including Barclays Capital, JP Morgan, Lloyd’s of London, as well as law firm Freshfields, have joined a slew of blue-chip City businesses who have signed up for a new project with Moscow. Backed by President Vladimir Putin himself, the project will sell financial expertise in the region.
More than 200 UK organizations have joined the initiative so far, according to TheCityUK. Chief executive Chris Cummings explained:
“Things have gone extremely well. We are well into the project and are very pleased. We have gone from virtually nothing, just a handful of companies who were interested in what business could be done financially and professionally in Russia, to lots of businesses, including major blue chips.”
He added: “We have had nothing but the most open and positive dealings with them. It has become a really good partnership. Derivatives is coming along really well and there has also been progress on dispute resolution. Having legal certainty would give businesses the grounds they need there. UK commercial law is the most renowned globally for commercial dispute resolution.”
Cummings continued, explaining that one of the areas the Russian’s wanted help in was promoting a culture of secure, long-term savings.
“They want to develop capital markets, and this goes hand in hand with a look at pensions provision there. We have been specifically requested to help them with this, and it has great potential,” he explained.
