New York, London keeps top spots in global financial centres index

New York easily kept the top spot in the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI). This is according to the ranking that was published. And then, London is held on to second place as Chinese cities slipped. The index was published by the Z/Yen Group in partnership with think-tank China Development Institute. This is a relief to London after its loss of access to the European Union financial market.

GFCI said in a statement that the relatively strong performance of New York and London suggests that the financial services sectors in these cities managed to sustain their performance. This took place even though there were radical changes in working practices during the last 18 months. Hong Kong and Singapore in third and fourth position both fell 25 points in the ratings.

Michael Mainelli, executive chairman of Z/Yen said that they see two patterns in the results for GFCI 30. Such as the confidence in the recovery of the North American and Western European economies following the shock of 2020 and a levelling off that followed after the rapid rise of Asia/Pacific centres and their economic stability in this pandemic. Competition remains tight. Outside the top two centres, only five points on a 1,000-point scale separate the centres ranked third to eighth. New York and Shanghai retained first and second positions in their survey. London rose two places to third place. Britain made the fintech-friendly policies a priority.