FT: Brown Invites Sovereign Wealth to London

The Financial Times recently reported that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is courting China’s sovereign wealth fund (SWFs, which invest public financial resources on behalf of a country’s citizens; they are becoming more prominent given the high levels of growth in many emerging economies in recent years). According to the article:

Gordon Brown urged China’s new £100bn ($195.5bn) sovereign wealth fund to use London as a hub for its international operations – contrasting Britain’s “open door” policy with protectionist signals from the US, France and Germany…

Britain is keen to demonstrate its openness to CIC [China Investment Corporation] and other sovereign funds, in contrast to the more guarded attitudes in some western nations. Chinese investments are a hot topic in the US…

On his first trip to China as prime minister, Mr Brown…set his sights on securing a bigger slice of the country’s soaring wealth for the City.

He hopes that CIC, which was set up to boost returns from China’s swelling foreign exchange reserves, will soon open an office in London, and told business leaders that it would be “welcome” in Britain.

URL: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ce9e1bea-c575-11dc-811a-0000779fd2ac.html