India and the UK on Wednesday held the second meeting of the India-UK Financial Markets Dialogue in London. This was the first in-person financial dialogue since 2017.
The dialogue focused on six themes: banking; payments and cryptocurrency (crypto) assets; insurance and reinsurance; capital markets; asset management; and sustainable finance.
According to the joint statement, the UK and Indian participants provided updates on recent developments in their respective banking sectors, and discussed banking trends, emerging vulnerabilities, and risks in the sector.
“The scope for augmenting knowledge on the central bank digital currency through mutual learning was explored. Participants discussed international developments regarding crypto assets, the importance of robust global approaches, and progress in delivering the Group of Twenty road map for enhancing cross-border payments,” it added.
There was participation from Indian and the UK independent regulatory agencies, including the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the International Financial Services Centres Authority, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, the Bank of England, and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Indian participants were updated on developments in the regulatory approach towards insurance in India, in favour of enhancing the ease of doing business and encouraging the entry of new players for deeper insurance penetration.
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At the meeting, both sides explored the scope to leverage asset management industries in favour of deeper cross-border trade and investment.
Sustainable finance was also discussed, including existing collaboration between central banks on climate scenario analysis and stress testing, as well as capacity building and spreading awareness on climate risk and sustainable finance.
Moreover, opportunities to collaborate on sovereign green bonds would be explored.
Financial cooperation is one of the key elements of the 2030 road map adopted during the 2021 meeting of the two Prime Ministers. Both countries agreed there was significant scope for strengthening financial services cooperation between India and the UK, and agreed to hold the next Financial Markets Dialogue in India in 2024.
