Iacobescu predicts "three or four year" upheaval

He said: “Such economic turmoil is unprecedented in my lifetime. The entire world seems surprised by the severity of the upheaval.

“It is only in 2011 that the values will begin to look familiar with 2008.

“The system is experiencing a powerful blow, it was not prepared for such events.

“The financial institutions and systems have taken a year and a half to discover and acknowledge the problems.

“Only a few days ago the world’s biggest bank, or shall I say ex-biggest bank, Citi, was on the edge.

“There isn’t as much money in the world. London continues to go through a great shake-up, but once the shake-up is over, in three or four years’ time, all London’s fundamentals will remain.

“Great Britain’s main city has the best infrastructure of lawyers, accountants and financial experts in the world.�

Mr Iacobescu also criticised the US government for not propping up former Bank Street tenant Lehman Brothers, the former banking giant which collapsed in September.

He said: “It was a mistake to allow Lehman Brothers, ex-Canary Wharf tenants, to go bust.

“The American government believed that this breakdown was containable, but it seized up the whole financial system.

“When Lehman Brothers went bust, the banks lost the courage to lend to people or companies, could not sell their loans and would not lend to each other for fear that the counterpart would crash overnight and so they could lose millions, if not billions.�

The crisis has seen Wharf institutions lay off hundreds of workers in the last few months, and Mr Iacobescu did not rule out losses at his own company.

But he said: “It is only possible if there is no work, but we have plenty of work to go on with.�

Mr Iacobescu revealed the average estate lease has 18 years to run, and that the company is looking to create up to 3,000 construction jobs on future buildings.

This will not include work on venues for the 2012 London games, as he believes CWG is currently “too busy� to get involved.

Iacobescu said: “The event is a fantastic opportunity for London, but this type of project can be no stranger to problems.

“The advantage that Canary Wharf has is the existence of a single management. It is a company run by one board and, practically, by one person.

“Olympic projects involve a number of different entities: government, local authorities, Olympic authorities.
“Everybody means well, but design or construction by committee can cause issues. And the budget is not always accurate.

“We wouldn’t undertake projects unless we are in control of such things.�