Frequently Asked Questions

1. How did Long Finance start?
2. What does Long Finance do?
3. What are the objectives of Long Finance?
4. What is Long Finance exploring?
5. Who is involved in Long Finance?
6. What are the Long Finance programmes?
7. How can I get involved?

1. How did Long Finance start?

London Accord discussions, particularly from 2007, led to the publication of Professor Michael Mainelli and Bob Giffords' book “The Road To Long Finance: A Systems View Of The Credit Scrunch” in 2009. It laid out a provocative analysis of the financial crisis in an attempt to widen the debate and to look at ways of re-thinking aspects of the financial system. The book was the catalyst for establishing the Long Finance initiative, which aims to improve society’s understanding and use of finance over the long-term.

2. What does Long Finance do?

Long Finance hosts roundtable events, conferences and seminars; publishes research and thought-pieces from experts in financial services; and runs four programmes which focus on different aspects of the financial system from different perspectives.

3. What are the objectives of Long Finance?

Long Finance has four major objectives:

• to expand frontiers: by developing methodologies to solve ‘wicked’ financial problems;
• to change systems: by providing evidenced-based examples of how financing methods do and don’t work;
• to deliver services: such as conferences and collaborative training tools and theory;
• to build communities: through events and networking.

4. What is Long Finance exploring?

The Long Finance Kitchen Cabinet (Advisory Board) tries to set out a general research direction, while the Meta-Commerce programme attempts to look further forward. In addition, Long Finance relies on the online community to help everyone explore issues old and new - check out the discussion pages of the Long Finance NEWS group and contribute your thoughts!

5. Who is involved in Long Finance?

Long Finance is managed by Z/Yen Group and is supported by Gresham College and the City of London Corporation. An expert perspective on the events, publications and activities carried out through Long Finance is provided by the Advisory Board. Further information is available on the Sponsors and Key Individuals pages of this website.

6. What are the Long Finance programmes?

The four Long Finance programmes are:

• London Accord
• Financial Centre Futures (including the GFCI)
• Meta-Commerce
• Eternal Coin

7. How can I get involved?

There are a number of ways to be involved in Long Finance - please see our Get Involved page for more details about sponsorship, research opportunities, events and joining the online community.