Bank of England deputy governor to speak at CFO Agenda

Sir Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank England, has been confirmed as the keynote speaker at this year’s CFO Agenda.

The addition of the deputy governor, who is responsible for the supervision and oversight of financial market infrastructures, resolution and international at the Bank, ensures the event in London on 7 May will be this year’s most important event for CFOs and finance directors.

Cunliffe is also a member of the Bank’s Financial Policy and Monetary Policy Committees, the Bank’s Court of Directors and the Prudential Regulation Committee, as well as being a member of the G20 Financial Stability Board Steering Committee and the European Systemic Risk Board.

Before joining the Bank in November 2013, he was the UK permanent representative to the European Union, effective from January 2012. He was the prime minister’s advisor on Europe and global issues and the UK Sherpa for the G8 and G20 for 2007-2011.

Prior to that, Cunliffe was managing director of the Macroeconomic and International Finance Directorate and then second permanent secretary at HM Treasury.

In various posts he has led Treasury work on operational independence of the Bank of England, European Monetary Union and the international financial system.

CFO Agenda will take place at a critical time as Theresa May seeks to extend the Brexit deadline to 30 June, from the current hard stop of 12 April, in order to break the political impasse that has prevented a withdrawal agreement being agreed on in parliament.

Brexit tensions

Earlier this week Bank of England governor mark Carney warned the risk of Britain stumbling into a “disorderly” no-deal Brexit is now “alarmingly high”.

He said that although “real progress” had been made preparing for leaving without a deal, it would still mean “lots of things to worry about”. He added it was “absolute nonsense” a no deal could be easily managed, he said.

A Brexit panel discussion at CFO Agenda featuring finance leaders from BMW UK, BUPA, Great Western Hotels, Hays and Honda Motor Europe will consider their organisations’ preparations and the role finance is playing in these efforts.

In the last few days a number of the panel have expressed their concerns about the impact of Brexit, especially a no-deal outcome. Paul Venables, CFO of Hays, the world’s largest white collar recruiter said; “Up until last week there was the possibility of a deal getting done, we’re now in a completely different world. Politicians need to put the country ahead of their own personal or party views.”

Wayne Close, MD of UK health Services at BUPA, said on the impact of Brexit on ‘soft’ issues such as staffing, he said: “That becomes a really difficult one because planning cycles to an extent are a bit of a continuum, and are not built to deal with this type of soft uncertainty.”

Adrian Burrows, CFO of Interchange and Consort Hotels Ltd, which represents 260 UK hotels in the Best Western Hotels and Resorts group and its purchasing group Beacon, said: “The biggest cause of concern is the softer issue of employment. If the government tightens its restriction on allowing freedom of movement post-Brexit, it could have a serious impact on those properties”.

The rest of the CFO Agenda day features CFOs, FDs and other leaders from leading companies such as AstraZeneca, Google and Unilever discussing how they are finessing finance functions and helping drive value in the face of disruption and other challenges.

For Finance, 2019 marks the start of a new world where the proactive leaders will be at the helm, navigating their businesses safely through the changes. Join us at this year’s CFO Agenda on 7th May in London to network with 200+ CFOs, FDs, and Heads of Finance to drive growth and meet the future with confidence and certainty. To learn more and register, please, visit: https://www.thecfoagenda.com/

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