Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

What Washington can expect from Rishi Sunak

What Washington can expect from Rishi Sunak

Britain’s new prime minister has American roots — but D.C. is still getting to know him.

Most of Washington doesn’t know Rishi Sunak. But there’s one sector of the nation’s capital that is quite familiar with him — financial regulators — and those relationships give a glimpse of how he may deal with D.C.

Even though the new British prime minister lived in the U.S. for five years, the networks he built in California — as a student and hedge fund partner — rarely extend to Washington. Sunak, 42, joined the British Cabinet in February 2020, just as Covid began to disrupt travel. And unlike his predecessor Liz Truss, Sunak hasn’t cultivated a conservative network in Washington.

That means he’s got a lot of work to do in D.C..

The U.K.-U.S. “special relationship” depends on actual relationships. Sunak’s dearth of them means that — beyond the Treasury — he will have to build those bonds on the fly as he confronts enormous challenges, from the West’s strategy on Ukraine to calming global financial markets.

POLITICO contacted more than a dozen senior American officials, think tankers and bankers: most had nothing to share about Sunak — because they’d never dealt with him before.



While Sunak is a conservative and the Biden administration prides itself on its progressive policy positions, those who know Sunak best in Washington — Treasury officials — are emphatic in their praise. They cited Sunak’s willingness to overcome policy differences, and to solve thorny problems to justify their views.


When Janet met Rishi


Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen first met Sunak in London, during the U.K. G-7 presidency in 2021, maintaining a rhythm of regular contact until Sunak resigned from his own treasury post in July, helping to force Boris Johnson out of Downing Street.

A person familiar with Sunak’s relationship with Treasury officials said he and Yellen “developed a very, very warm and friendly relationship, but also very business-like: they accomplish things.”

That’s the type of relationship the White House is looking for from London: no more market chaos, and fewer confrontations with the EU over Irish border arrangements.

“I think people actually see this as a settling down and getting back on an even track after some fairly interesting and momentous events this year,” U.K. Ambassador Karen Pierce said in an interview.

After this year’s revolving door in Downing Street and other British ministries, U.S. officials say they’ll be happy if Sunak and his team stick to a predictable line.

“They will expect an inward focus from Sunak, especially to try and get the economic basics back on track,” said Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO during the Obama administration. “U.K. policy on Ukraine will remain the same, which is good, and for the rest they have to have a predictable G-7 partner.”



The Yellen-Sunak relationship was forged during tense negotiations last year to establish a global minimum tax for large international companies and efforts to punish Russia for invading Ukraine.

Yellen and Sunak worked hand-in-hand during the tax talks which involved more than 130 governments, and dragged on throughout 2021, “Many countries had red lines, but they were determined to find a way through,” said the person familiar with the efforts to fend off defections and win over holdouts including Ireland, which had made a 12.5 percent corporate rate the foundation of its national economic model.

The individual, who has participated in meetings with Sunak, said the new PM’s relationship with Yellen extended to dinners and a private tour of the Treasury building. The person and others were granted anonymity to allow them to speak freely about Sunak.

With the global tax deal done, Yellen and Sunak teamed up to deal with Moscow via sanctions, and mechanisms to limit the fallout from the energy market chaos Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed this year.

“He had his staff dedicate a huge amount of time to welcome [U.S.] Treasury staff at low, medium and high levels to make sure we got outcomes,” the person said.


London vs. New York clash looming


For all the personal bonhomie between Sunak and Yellen, the pair may yet end up at odds over one of Sunak’s passions: making London a cryptocurrency and blockchain hub.

Sunak is the most influential world leader to publicly embrace blockchain technology to remake financial markets.

Where the Biden administration talks about “responsible digital asset development,” Sunak — a Goldman Sachs alum and the first former hedge fund partner to lead a major economy — is less cautious, focusing on innovation and global leadership.

Washington’s crypto approach remains stuck at the stage of executive orders and policy frameworks, while the House of Commons this week voted to recognize cryptocurrencies as a regulated financial asset.

While Britain is choosing to go its own way on crypto, Sunak showed his cooperative spirit by working with G-7 financial authorities on developing central bank digital currencies, a crypto-adjacent asset class.

With financiers in London now facing extra paperwork to operate in the EU because of Brexit, Sunak’s overall instinct is to do what it takes to help London catch up to New York in the race to be the world’s financial capital.

A Conservative British member of parliament said Sunak lacks international financial connections that might move the needle for London’s competitive position: “He has hedge funds and that’s it.”


A bit of American ideology


Sunak has credited the time he spent getting a Stanford MBA — obtained in 2006 — with teaching him to “think bigger” about the world — and bring a “start-up mentality” to governing, as demonstrated by his approach to blockchain and crypto.

Through his finance career, Sunak either worked for or invested in major American companies — including some that would later shape his political fortunes.

Between 2001 and 2004, Sunak worked as a junior analyst at Goldman Sachs, focusing on U.S. stocks concerning railways and media. He was later involved in a campaign against the management of U.S. rail freight group CSX, while a junior partner at The Children’s Investment Fund Management, or TCI — a London-based activist hedge fund.

In 2010 Sunak returned to California as a co-founder of Thélème Partners, which invested in companies including News Corp — which owns Britain’s highest circulation newspaper The Sun, and The Times, generally considered London’s paper of record. Thélème invested more than $500 million in Moderna, and Sunak refused to disclose during the pandemic if he was receiving a cut of Moderna’s Covid vaccine profits.

He and his wife still own an apartment in Santa Monica and he kept his green card, allowing permanent residency in the U.S., and paid U.S. taxes until October 2021, 18 months into his role as U.K. chancellor. Those U.S. ties drew criticism that he wasn’t fully committed to continuing to live in the U.K.

Delivering a lecture at Bayes Business School in London in 2021, Sunak cited Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Romer as one of his “inspiring” Stanford professors. Sunak absorbed those professors’ capitalist ethos and the folklore of the American Dream.

His message to MBA students back in London as chancellor: “The free market provides the best possible route to achieving the most happiness and security for the greatest number of people.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
×