Mais Lecture Series | Bayes Business School

The Mais lecture was established in 1978 to honour Lord Mais, a former Lord Mayor of the City of London and Chancellor of the University.

The annual Mais lecture is regarded as the City of London’s foremost event for the banking and finance community, and is attended by senior practitioners and academics. Since its inception in 1978, the Mais has maintained a tradition of prestigious speakers including Mark Carney, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Mervyn King and George Osborne.

Previous speakers have included former Chancellors of the Exchequer, Governors of the Bank of England, future Prime Ministers, Nobel Prize Winners, and Heads of the International Monetary Fund. More recent speakers have included Rishi Sunak MP, Anneliese Dodds MP, Mark Carney, George Osborne and Mervyn King.

Rt. Hon. Rachel Reeves MP delivers the 2024 Mais Lecture at Bayes Business School

Mais Lecture 2024: Economic Growth in an Age of Insecurity

with Rt. Hon. Rachel Reeves MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
19th March 2024, Bayes Business School

In March Rachel Reves delivered the 36th annual Mais Lecture, focussing on economic growth in her speech.

Ms Reeves laid out her blueprint for creating a sustained cycle of growth in the face of global challenges – in what she describes as a necessary “fundamental course correction”.

The event was livestreamed across various broadcast networks, and attended in-person by 200 business and finance leaders, staff, students, alumni and friends of Bayes Business School and City, University of London, and members of the media.

Mais Lecture 2023: “How to green the global economy”

with Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
5th June 2023, Bayes Business School

THe 2023 Mais Lecture was delivered by Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on "How to green the global economy"

Odile Renaud-Basso The EBRD’s Board of Governors elected Ms Renaud-Basso as the Bank’s seventh President in October 2020 during its 29th Annual Meeting. She took up the role in November 2020, replacing Sir Suma Chakrabarti, who had stepped down in July 2020 after serving two full four-year terms. She is the first ever woman head of a multilateral development bank.

As Director General at the French Treasury, Ms Renaud-Basso oversaw the development of France’s economic policies, leading on European and international financial affairs, trade policies, financial regulation and debt management.

In this position, she also served as Vice-President of the European Economic and Financial Committee, deputy to the G7 and G20 groups and French Governor or Alternate Governor of the World Bank, EBRD and African Development Bank. She was also Chair of the Paris Club.

Prior to that role, she was Deputy Director-General of the Caisse des Dépôts, a large French public financial institution.

Mais Lecture 2022 - A new culture of enterprise

Rishi Sunak and Barbara Casu at the Bayes Mais Lecture Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak MP delivered the 34th Mais Lecture in February 2022 in which he set out his vision for a lower tax economy, delivered in a responsible way. Sunak said it was a "great privilege" to deliver the Mais Lecture, joining a long line of prestigious and eminent speakers from previous years.

From the Centre Director:

The Mais Lecture is an important event in the calendar for the Centre for Banking Research, as many of the speakers have a significant impact on the direction of our work.

Over the years, we have been privileged to welcome Chancellors and Shadow Chancellors, future Prime Ministers, Governors of the Bank of England and many expert economists to deliver visions and forecasts that have shaped the financial world.

In the last two years it has been a personal honour to host discussions with both Rishi Sunak MP and Anneliese Dodds MP, amidst a backdrop of dramatic global events which require strong financial and economic leadership.

Mr Sunak cited the Mais Lecture – where he unveiled his vision of a new culture of enterprise here at Bayes – in his 2022 Spring Statement to the House of Commons, demonstrating the influence of this prestigious event.

Our mission as a Centre is to disseminate cutting-edge research and engage with a wide array of stakeholders, leveraging our network of excellence in banking research through publications, workshops and events. The topics of discussion generated by the Mais Lecture is a big part of this, and a significant milestone across the City of London, the United Kingdom and the rest of the financial world.

Professor Barbara Casu
Director, Centre for Banking Research

Previous Speakers

February 1978 – ‘Reflections on the Conduct of Monetary Policy’, Rt Hon Gordon Richardson, Governor of the Bank of England
November 1979 – ‘Objectives of Monetary Policy: Past and Present’, Lord Lionel Robbins, Professor of Economics, London School of Economics
May 1981 – ‘The Fight Against Inflation’, Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Howe, Chancellor of the Exchequer
March 1983 – ‘Science and Ethics’, Professor Fredrick Hayek, Economist and Nobel Laureate
June 1984 – ‘The British Experiment’, Rt Hon Nigel Lawson, Chancellor of the Exchequer
May 1986 – ‘The International Financial Scene: Can Sense Be Plucked Out of Danger’, Rt Hon Roy Jenkins, Chancellor of the University of Oxford
May 1987 – ‘The Instruments of Monetary Policy’, Rt Hon Robin Leigh-Pemberton
May 1988 – ‘The IMF in a Changing World’, Mr M. Camdessus, Managing Director, IMF
May 1989 – ‘A Restatement of Economic Liberalism’, Sir Samuel Brittan, Economic Journalist at the Financial Times
May 1990 – ‘Monetary Policy – A Post-Mortem and Proposal Professor’, Gordon Pepper CBE, Economist, Honorary Visiting Professor, Department of Banking and Finance, City University Business School and Chairman, Lombard Street Research Ltd., UK
May 1992 – ‘Economic and Monetary Union: The Case for Central Bank Independence’, Mr Eric Hoffmeyer, Chairman of Danmarks Nationalbank's Board of Governors
June 1993 – ‘Benefits and Costs: Securing and Future of Social Security’, Rt Hon Peter Lilley MP, Secretary of State for Social Security
May 1994 – ‘The Changing World of Work in the 1990s’, Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke, QC MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer
May 1995 – ‘The Economic Framework for New Labour’, Rt Hon Tony Blair MP, Leader of the Opposition
October 1996 – ‘Achieving Competitiveness in a Global Economy’, Rt Hon Michael Heseltine MP, Deputy Prime Minister
June 1997 – ‘Monetary Policy in Britain and Europe’, Sir Edward George, Governor, Bank of England
May 1998 – ‘Financial and Monetary Integration: Benefits, Opportunities, and Pitfalls’, Dr Hans Tietmeyer, President, Bundesbank
October 1999 – ‘The Conditions for Full Employment’, Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer
May 2000 – ‘Markets, Governments and Virtues’, Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi
May 2001 – ‘The New European Debate: The Euro-zone and the Greater Europe’, President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, President of the Regional Council of Auvergne
April 2003 – ‘Reflections on European Monetary Policy’, Professor Dr Ernst Welteke, President of the Bundesbank
May 2004 – ‘The Euro – the first five years’, Professor Dr Otmar Issing, Chief Economist and member of the board of the European Central Bank (ECB)
May 2005 – ‘Monetary Policy: Practice Ahead of Theory’, Mervyn King, Governor, Bank of England
October 2008 – ‘Chancellor Reveals his Plans to Maintain Economic Stability’, Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer
May 2009 – ‘Reflections on the Financial Crisis’, Professor Axel A Weber, President of the Bundesbank
February 2010 – ‘A New Economic Framework’, RT Hon George Osborne MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
July 2011 – ‘The World of Finance and the National interest’, Paul Volcker, economist and the 12th Chair of the Federal Reserve
May 2012 – ‘The Experience of Financial Integration – Ireland, Britain, Europe’, Dr Patrick Honohan, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland
March 2014 – ‘One Mission. One Bank. Promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom’, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England
October 2015 – ‘Rethinking Macro (Stabilisation) Policy’, Olivier Blanchard, Departing International Monetary Fund Chief Economist and Fred Bergsten, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
May 2017 – ‘Restoring Trust in the Banking System’, Lord Brian Griffiths, International Adviser, Goldman Sachs
November 2018 – ‘The European Union and the Changing International Landscape’, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission and Prime Minister of Portugal
January 2021 – ‘The challenges of the post-Covid, post-Brexit UK economy – a response’, Annelise Dodds MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
February 2022 – ‘A new culture of enterprise’, Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Mais Lecture in the Media.

Sunak channels Thatcher with pledge for low tax Britain, Financial Times, Wednesday 23 February 2022

Rishi Sunak to say he wants to cut taxes ‘sustainably’ in landmark speech, The Guardian, Wednesday 24 February 2022

'Calls to slash taxes now are flippant': Rishi Sunak is set to reject pleas for immediate cuts because spending levels need to be sorted out first. Daily Mail, Wednesday 23 February 2022

Sunak Makes Low-Tax Pitch as U.K. Leadership Question Looms, Bloomberg, Thursday 24 February 2022

Building a strong UK economy can help fight international aggression, Sunak says, The Independent, Thursday 24 February 2022