Western governments must accept the rise of sovereign wealth funds as a further sign of a shift in the world economy, according to Gerard Lyons, the chief economist at Standard Chartered, a bank.

The influence of sovereign wealth funds on financial markets is set to grow, says Lyons, and, rather than seeing them as a threat, western governments should seize the opportunity to work with emerging economies such as China and Russia and others to find common ground rules and a code of practice.

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