27 October 1986: the City's Big Bang

The deregulation of 1986 – dubbed the ‘Big Bang’ – brought the City into the modern age and helped it become the financial powerhouse it is today.

London Stock Exchange Trading Floor, 1975
The old boys' network had to go
(Image credit: © Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Before 1986, the City worked rather differently to the way it does today. Old Etonians would roll in from the shires mid-morning, depart shortly after for a civilised lunch and a bottle of very nice Bordeaux at a discreet restaurant somewhere, then hop in a cab to the club for a few snifters of single malt, before being whisked back first-class to London's leafy fringes.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.