The study will use a mixed methodology approach employing both formal and informal Network Analysis. This will involve conducting survey questionnaires and in-depth interviews with policy makers, industry regulators, trade representatives and members of leading City firms. It also seeks to engage a wide international audience, encourage the sharing of different perspectives, and facilitate lively discussion and debate about the future of the City of London. This is to be achieved through an ambitious programme of interdisciplinary networking and collaboration, international conference presentations and publications, high-profile practitioner workshops, as well as policy briefings and media commentary. The two-year project will form the basis for future international collaboration with researchers in New York and Hong Kong which will explore the role of international financial centres in shaping regulatory reform agendas around the world. Data collection includes quantitative ego-network data on financial industry lobbying around the UK banking reform process in 2010-11; and qualitative interview data on industry lobbying on EU and international regulations on capital requirements from 2010-12.The study set out to map and explain how the City of London engages in the policy process at the national, European and international level. It did so by undertaking a comparative analysis of the policy networks that exist around recent regulatory reforms: the UK Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill; the EU Capital Requirements Directive IV and Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive; and the international Basel III Accord. The study used a mixed methodology approach employing both formal and informal Network Analysis. This involved conducting surveys and in-depth interviews with policy makers, industry regulators, trade representatives and members of leading City firms.

The Ego-Network data measures information exchange between 26 organisations gathered using survey questionnaires. Organisations were identified using public records of written submissions to the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) in 2010-11 and verified using a panel of industry experts. Informants within each organisation were then identified with responsibility for the ICB process and invited to participate in a short questionnaire which asked them about information exchange with other organisations on the list. The Interview data includes transcripts from interviews conducted with 11 financial services practitioners and regulators during 2012-13. Participants were identified using public records and through workshop engagement events. The interviews covered three main themes: the organisation and representation of the City of London in the policy process; the changing nature of industry lobbying since the financial crisis; and industry/regulator preferences, strategies, tactics and influence in relation to the Basel 3 accord; the EU Capital Requirements Directive IV; and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers' Directive.