Global Brief writes on what is would take to transform Toronto into the world's "top centre for global finance," and why the city is already on its way. With a combination of strong political and business leadership and a focus on strong niche areas, Toronto could (the article argues) supplement New York and London as the world's global finance leader.
"Making Toronto a top centre for global finance involves leadership and strategy by the commercial sector, governments and the academy. It requires something that we may wish to call ‘Reverse Reaganism,’ whereby governments accept the role that they ought to play in shaping their own economy, rather than yielding the planning function to unfettered markets."
"…In conclusion, Toronto business and political leaders need to lead through rigorous focus on particular niche areas where Toronto already enjoys enormous strengths. Leadership in any of the foregoing sub-segments of the finance cluster – e-commerce, Islamic banking and resource-sector finance – could well propel Toronto’s financial destiny to the global leadership position to which it ought to aspire."
"Finally, Toronto business and political leaders ought to consider the establishment of a City Wealth Fund, similar to well-known sovereign wealth funds. Investors are private and public: they use their equity stake to participate in management, to keep the company in Toronto, and to create a Coke-Atlanta relationship for Toronto and the fund’s investors. The fund – totalling, say, half a billion dollars over five years – would be privately operated. The terms would be negotiated among the investors. The first deal could be done in the spring of 2011. Then deal-flow would follow, and the rest would be momentum through commercial success. The focus of the fund could be one or all of the three niche financial services areas discussed above. This idea is ambitious, but not absurd. Ten years, from now every city will have such a fund, but it will have started in Toronto."
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Global Brief