Look what you made SEC do
Fashionable chanteuse Taylor Swift is almost as well known for the economic boost her shows supposedly bring as she is for a string of hits including Cruel Summer and Blank Space.
Barclays even suggested that her blockbuster Eras tour could provide a billion-pound boost to the UK economy with Swifties spending £848 each in June and August getting to her six UK gigs, with hotels selling out wherever she is in town.
Now the Shake It Off singer has caught the eye of an even more formidable and rigorous financial institution: The Securities and Exchange Commission. As the main US watchdog, the SEC can strike fear into bankers anywhere.
But it displayed its softer side when inspired by Swift to showcase its own history with “an eras tour of our own”, before pledging “It’s only with continually updating our rules and fulfilling this mission, regardless of era, that our capital markets will remain the envy of the world.”
Spy wonders which artist might inspire the SEC’s fellow watchdog on this side of the pond, as the London market, overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority, fights to stay competitive with its arch rival in New York.
The FCA could channel Cockney rockers Chas & Dave, perhaps, with the earworms Musn’t Grumble and Ain’t No Pleasing You, or even the iconic Gertcha, suitable anthems for any regulator, even if they might not necessarily be playing to the crowd.
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