London has the most to lose if any overly onerous regulatory framework is agreed at the G20 summit, warns the Association of British Insurers.

Stephen Haddrill, the ABI's director general, says, ‘The future of the UK's financial services rests on a knife edge at the G20. The host city London can lead the way out of the crisis in financial services, but it also has most to lose. With the financial services sector contributing eight per cent of the UK's GDP, a bad outcome would be a loss felt in London and in towns and cities across the country.’

‘London needs to make its voice heard so unnecessary costs for industry and consumers are not hard-wired into the system for a generation.’

The ABI believes a pan-European supervisor of supervisors could be a sensible way to improve cross-border regulation in the EU.     

Haddrill adds, ‘It makes sense for this body, and any other pan-European financial supervisory body, to be based in London, which has a key role to play at the heart of world markets as the bridge between Europe and the rest of the world.’