14/09/17

London ranked world’s top financial centre despite Brexit

The UK’s capital city has been named the top financial centre in the world despite fears the country’s decision to leave the EU will make it less attractive, reports TheActuary.

The Z/Yen Group’s Global Financial Centre Index 22 report ranks 92 cities based on 23,000 assessments collected from over 3,100 financial services professionals, as well as indices from organisations such as the World Bank.

Despite dropping two points, London retained top spot, followed by New York, which dropped 24 points – the largest fall in the top 15 centres – while Hong Kong completed the top three.

Western European financial centres are still described as “volatile”, although Frankfurt, Dublin, Paris and Amsterdam all rose in the rankings.

“Despite the ongoing Brexit negotiations, London remains on top, and only fell by two points – the smallest decline in the top ten centres,” the report says.

“Overall assessments for the European centres continued to fluctuate as people speculate about which might benefit from London leaving the EU.”

The rankings are an aggregate of indices concerning business environment, financial sector development, infrastructure factors, human capital, reputational considerations, and general factors.

It was found that the top financial centres in the world are well developed and strong in most areas, with the top four overall holding the top four positions in all the sub-indices.

All of the top centres in the Asia Pacific region fell in the ratings, with Singapore, Tokyo and Osaka all showing marked declines, reversing strong gains made in 2015-16.

Along with New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and Washington saw large falls, amid fears over future US trade following the election of Donald Trump, while Canadian centres also saw a decline, although less severe.

All the Eastern European centres rose in the rankings, while the Latin American and Caribbean ones also did well, but there were mixed results for the Middle East, with Dubai falling and Abu Dhabi rising.

In addition, it was found that the European ‘island’ centres performed well, with the British Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man, seen as “safe havens” from the turmoil in the UK and EU.