London stays top as Cayman falls in GFC Index

(CNS): London has topped the list of financial centres, again, in the Global Financial Centres Index, a ranking of the top 75 cities in which to do business. The ninth edition of the twice-yearly Index, published by think tank, Z/Yen placed London ahead of New York, and Hong Kong which came in second and third in all of the five key areas which include people, business, environment, market access, infrastructure and general competitiveness. The Cayman Islands continued its decline in the index having started in the first edition ranked 22nd the jurisdiction fell a further four places from the eighth edition to number 38 in the latest rankings

However, all offshore centres with the exception of the British Virgin Islands fell further than the
average, continuing a trend since the financial crises began. Jersey and Guernsey remain the leading offshore centres. “The offshore centres continue to come under scrutiny during the financial crisis,” the report states. “Many offshore centres are still regarded as ‘tax havens’ and there has been significant pressure applied to these centres by many national regulators as well as international bodies such as the OECD.”

The report said that confidence amongst financial services professionals has fallen since GFCI 8, as
shown by lower overall ratings – 47 centres have lower ratings in GFCI 9 with only 25 centres rated higher. Asia continues to exhibit enhanced competitiveness with eight centres in the top twenty against six North American centres and five European ones. In GFCI 1 there were just three Asian centres in
the top twenty.

Seoul was the largest riser moving into 16th place, up 25 points in the ratings and when questioned about which financial centres are likely to become more significant in the next few years, the top five centres mentioned are all Asian – Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong and Beijing. Asian cities also fill the top six places when respondents indicate where their organisations are most likely to open new offices.

GFCI uses responses to an ongoing online questionnaire completed by international financial services
professionals. Respondents are asked to rate those centres with which they are familiar and to answer a number of questions relating to their perceptions of competitiveness. Overall, 33,751 financial centre assessments from1,970 financial services professionals were used to compute GFCI 9,with older assessments discounted according to age, the report reveals.

See report here