MMP Replay: Sir Xavier Rolet - Why European Capital Markets Have Failed

Mar 18, 2021, 05:00 AM

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The Money Maze Podcast this week is re-uploading our episode with Sir Xavier Rolet, due to the topics covered last week with Sir Chris Hohn, who invested in the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) when Mr Rolet led the firm's transformation (find out more about this episode here). 

Rolet talks in-depth about the reorientation he undertook whilst CEO of the London Stock Exchange and the succession of transformatory deals which he engineered, propelling the value of the company from under £1 billion to £14 billion in just 9 years.

He goes into a detailed explanation of why “the only asset that creates wealth is equities”, why boardrooms are filled with people ill-versed in technology and innovation, and why France along with other European countries have failed to grasp the opportunity to develop the Googles and Amazons of Europe. 

He then discusses why London has a good chance of retaining its pre-eminence as a financial centre, notwithstanding Brexit, because of its global reach in multiple areas of finance.

Originally recorded in October 2020.