New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore remain the top four global financial centres, according to a new research by Z/Yen Group and the Qatar Financial Centre Authority.
New York is now the leading centre although its lead against London is insignificant – two points on a scale of 1,000. London being overtaken by New York in the index is mainly due to London falling (it is the largest faller in the top 50 centres).
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The ‘big four’ global financial centres are being chased. It is easy to focus on New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore but others are catching up and now close behind. Three years ago (in GFCI 9) the difference between first and tenth was 117 points.
The top ten centres are now within 75 points of each other. The leading Asian Centres pull away from the weaker. There is a ‘shakeout’ in Asia, the leading centres – such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul and Shenzhen are doing significantly better than the weaker centres (e.g. Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta and Mumbai).
Middle East centres continue to rise in the index. Qatar remains the leading Middle Eastern Centre just ahead of Dubai. Riyadh is up 16 places, Bahrain is up 12 places and Abu Dhabi is up 10 places. Financial centres in Europe are still in turmoil. 23 of the 27 European centres in the GFCI declined by rank.
Significant falls include Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Dublin, Madrid, Lisbon, and Rome. Athens in last place (83rd) is now 82 points adrift of Reykjavik, second to last. Offshore centres struggle with reputation and regulation. All except Gibraltar and the British Virgin Islands decline in the ranks.
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By GlobalDataThere are three new entrants to the GFCI, Busan, Almaty and Casablanca.
Mark Yeandle, associate director of the Z/Yen Group and the author of the GFCI, said: "London sees the largest fall in the top 50 centres. This seems to be based on a number of factors including fears of regulatory creep, uncertainty over Europe, the perception that London might be becoming less welcoming to foreigners and perceived levels of market maniputation."
