Former City minister Bim Afolami joins QCA with ‘unfinished business’
Former City minister minister Bim Afolami has joined the Quoted Companies Alliance board, in a ‘coup’ for the trade body that supports smaller and medium-sized listed companies.
The former Tory MP and minister responsible for the Square Mile will sit on the QCA’s board, as it works to champion Britain’s small and medium-sized publicly traded firms.
Afolami, who was the youngest ever City minister, has a wealth of experience in the Square Mile having worked as a corporate lawyer at Freshfields, Simpson Thatcher & Bartlet before entering Parliament. He has also worked for HSBC, on whose UK board he now sits.
QCA said his credentials would be “instrumental” in helping it shape and inform policy, with both regulators and the government.
Recently, measures such as cutting stamp duty on FTSE 250 shares have been advocated in a bid to save smaller British companies and encourage more equity investors.
Following his appointment today, Afolami said: “The QCA is a hugely important voice in UK capital markets. I am delighted to be invited to join its Board to advise and challenge James and his team.”
This is unfinished business for me. We must make our markets work better for the nation’s entrepreneurial companies, broaden investment, lighten the regulatory load and, crucially, power economic growth – Bim Afolami
Judith MacKenzie, QCA Chair, welcomed his appointment saying: “2025 is the year when we need significant intervention if we are to boost definitively the fortunes of UK small caps.”
“I can’t think of anyone better to add to our ranks to support that mission. Bim’s experience and network will enable us to take our members’ perspectives from the Square Mile and across the UK economy and put them high on the political agenda.”
James Ashton, QCA chief executive, added: “Bim’s arrival on the QCA Board is a real coup for us. He was an impactful and thoughtful City Minister who really understood our members’ priorities and we are already tapping his insights to help us get things done in Westminster.”