There are some 9,000 residents in the City, which has an area of 1.22 square miles. It is divided into 25 subdivisions or wards, only four of which have any signficiant resident population. Each resident has one vote, businesses have between them 32,000 votes, reflecting their number of employees, but with no requirement to consult with them in any way on use of the votes.
The Corporation "is committed to maintaining and enhancing the status of the City as the world's leading international financial and business centre... and to establish contact with decision-makers and people of influence wordwide". The Corporation currently states that "in private meetings and speeches, the Lord Mayor expands the values of liberalisation". In 2010 for example, it issued memorandum opposing European efforts to rein in the activities of hedge funds, and arguing against the restriction of over-the-counter derivatives.
The prime minister has to meet with the City if it asks for it within 10 days, the Queen has to meet the city within a week if so requested.
The post of "city remembrancer" was instituted in 1571 and the postholder is the only non-parliamentary person allowed into the Commons chamber, having a special seat behind the speaker with the role of having "day to day contact with officials in government departments responsible for developing government policy, the drafting and promotion of legislation and responsibility for relations with both Houses of Parliament and their committees".
A pledge to abolish the Corporation became Labour Party policy after WWI. It was removed by Tony Blair in 1996 with a vague promise of "reform", done through a private members bill that actually increased the power of the large companies in the City. It has also been Lib Dem policy, but was since removed.
The Bank of England in 1991 identified its reason for existence as three aims, being protecting the currency, keeping the financial system stable and ensure the effectiveness of the United Kingdom's financial services and advance a financial system that "enhances the international competitive position of the City of London and other UK financial centres".
The City says the City Cash fund is "a private fund built up over the last eight centuries" that earns income from "property supplemented by investment earnings." It has been estimated its income amounts of well over £100m a year. It is known to own the Conduit Estate, covering some of the most valuable parts of the West End around Regent and Oxford Streets, and property in Wall Street, Hong Kong and Sydney.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to the City of London only as a local authority, police authority and port health authority. No other aspects of its work are covered by the FOI Act.
An attempt was made to amalgamate the corporation with the local government structures serving the rest of London at the end of the 19th century. A Royal Commission on the Amalgamation of the City and County of London reported a mechanism for this to be achieved in 1894. However, the amalgamation did not take place. The 1957 Royal Commission into local government began "Logic has its limits and the position of the City lies outside them."
* For more information I'd recommend "Griffin, The City of London Corporation," in Treasure Islands, Nicholas Shaxson, pp. 244-278, from which a lot of this is drawn.