Sheriff Elect of the City of London, Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli will serve as chair for this year's Mondo Visione Exchange Forum, which takes place on October 1, at Haberdashers’ Hall in the City of London.
This year’s Exchange Forum takes place against the shadow cast by Brexit which has allowed New York to overtake London as the world's global financial hub and the UK due to leave the European Union on October 31, with the deadline now having been postponed twice over the past three years.
Born in the USA and educated at Harvard University, Trinity College Dublin, and the London School of Economics, Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli has worked in finance and technology in the City since 1984, was elected Alderman for the Ward of Broad Street in 2013, and is Immediate Past Master of the World Traders. His responsibilities have included serving as Trustee of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, Morden College, Christ’s Hospital, and Gresham College, where he is also Emeritus Professor of Commerce.
Professor Mainelli said, “I intend to discharge this office of Sheriff with honour to the betterment of this fantastic City of ours and its numerous international sister centres. The Mondo Visione Exchange Forum has equally worked hard over a few decades trying to build the commercial and intellectual bridges we all need to make the world’s connections work better for mankind. I’m delighted to be chairing the day.”
The office of Sheriff, a pre-requisite to becoming Lord Mayor of the City of London, is one of the oldest in existence and dates back to the Middle Ages.
The Sheriffs’ modern-day duties include supporting the Lord Mayor in his or her civic duties and serving, both, at home and abroad, as ambassadors for the UK-based financial and professional services industry by promoting the UK as a place in which to do business.
They also support Her Majesty’s Judges at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) in promoting the importance of the English rule of law to businesses, schools, diplomats, charities, the City Livery, and leading arts figures.”
