BACK in the late 1980s and early 1990s a major criticism of the City of London's regulatory system was that it was a so-called 'alphabet soup' of confusion.
SIB, Imro, Lautro, PIA etc. They were by no means the only regulatory acronyms holding sway in the Square Mile.
Eventually regulator-fatigue set in. One of the first things New Labour did when they acquired power in 1997 was to merge them all into a one-stop shop of the Financial Services Authority.
It now looks like London Mayor Boris Johnson believes there is a similar unhelpful amorphousness in the disparate bodies that promote the City as a global financial centre - and that the system should be radically simplified to make it more effective.
This week a leading group of business figures is expected to conclude a five-month review of Britain's financial services industry, and to make a central recommendation to Johnson that a single board be established to take on the job that is currently being done by about a dozen organisations.
These include the Confederation of British Industry, the Lon
don Development Agency, UK Trade & Investment, the London Stock Exchange, the City of London Corporation and the Securities & Investments Institute.
The review group was commissioned by Johnson and is chaired by Bob Wigley, the chairman of Merrill Lynch in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
It is also understood the body will stress that it is more important than ever that the City ups its promotional game abroad because of the extraordinary turmoil in financial markets.
In these tough times, the City will need sharp elbows to fight off the challenges from both established financial sectors like New York and Hong Kong, as well as offshore tax havens.
All very laudable. And an end to turf wars between organisations promoting the Square Mile is welcome.
But there is a trojan horse in there as well, which might be a knottier problem to unravel.
That is namely lots of finance professionals leaving the City because of issues like a tax on non-doms and the new 45 per cent higher tax rate announced in the budget on people earning £150,000.
One very senior figure in one of the organisations mentioned above told me recently that sovereign states like Abu Dhabi "are rubbing their hands with glee" at the thought of British bankers seeking employment abroad to escape from punitive conditions here.
No good promoting the City through the front door, if too many City people are leaving through the back.
