This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Dominic Meiklejohn

Part of UK in USA [New York]

1st October 2010 New York, USA

Financial Secretary in New York

Guest blog: Chinwendu Nwakanma, Wall Street Liaison Officer, British Consulate-General, New York

The Financial Secretary, Mark Hoban, visited New York September 27th and 28th.  From the outset this was a great opportunity to build on our strong engagement with the financial services industry and to set out the Coalition’s prosperity and growth agenda. We developed an outstanding visit programme which included key visits to major companies, media opportunities and roundtable events.

The Financial Secretary visited very senior executives at major banks such as JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup to name a few. He explained the Coalition Government’s approach to financial services, financial regulation, the business environment,   the competitiveness of the City of London   and how we might further foster links between London and New York as key international financial service centers. His messages and engagement were well received by the bank executives who shared their own views on financial regulation and expressed their willingness to expand their operations in the UK under the right conditions.

We facilitated two events aimed at bringing together a broad group of influential figures for discussion on these topics.  The Atlantic Partnership hosted a breakfast roundtable at Sir Alan Collins’ residence attended by key figures in policy, business, economics and media. The discussions focused on international financial regulation and the Financial Secretary outlined the steps being taken in the UK and Europe and called for consistency and cooperation internationally. Nick McInnes, Director UKTIUSA hosted a dinner bringing together young entrepreneurs and “movers & shakers” in New York providing an opportunity for the  Financial Secretary to  engage with a diverse audience of people who represent the next generation of leadership in business and private enterprise.

In addition to this the Financial Secretary had two great media appearances on Fox Business News and Bloomberg.

The Financial Secretary reinforced key messages on the UK being open for business and the competitiveness of the City of London. We also secured a “60 second written interview” with JP Morgan which is a good way for key public figures to get their message across to over 200,000 JP Morgan employees on their internal website.

This visit by the Financial Secretary was a good example of multiple groups coming together to deliver on the prosperity agenda while also strengthening our networks with various organizations. By working together with our colleagues, whether across the room, on a different floor, in Washington DC or London, we were able to make the most out of the Financial Secretary’s visit.

About Dominic Meiklejohn

I was born in Woking, outside London, in 1967 and attended Merton College, Oxford University, graduating in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. After university, I worked for HM Customs and Excise…

I was born in Woking, outside London, in 1967 and attended Merton College, Oxford University, graduating in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

After university, I worked for HM Customs and Excise before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1990. After working for the European Community Department, I learned Polish and began a posting at the British Embassy Warsaw, where I headed the British Know How Fund for Poland (1993-96). In 1997, I worked for the OSCE Mission in Albania, before heading up the India team in the South Asian Department of the FCO. In 2000, I was posted as First Secretary to the British Embassy Warsaw, with a particular focus on European Union issues in the run-up to Poland’s accession to the EU. In 2003, I returned to the UK as Deputy Head of the Environment Policy Department. From 2004-2005, I led the FCO’s Knowledge Management Programme. During this period, I led two deployments of the FCO’s Consular Rapid Deployment Team– to Sri Lanka, after the tsunami in 2004 and to Pakistan, after the earthquake in 2005. From 2006-2007, I served as Deputy Consul-General, Basra, Iraq. From June 2007 I worked with the FCO’s Change Unit.

I took up my current appointment on 22 January 2008. My wife Joanne and I are the proud parents of Olivia. Outside of the office, I cycle around Manhattan, play soccer (football) and, when parenting duties allow, enjoy the cultural riches offered by New York. I try hard to understand baseball.

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