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Financial centre

 
Wikipedia: Financial centre
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"International finance centre" redirects here. For Landmark in Hong Kong, see International Finance Centre.
This article is about a city with economic importance. For a banking location, see Branch (banking).
The City of London, London, United Kingdom is comprised almost entirely of financial services.

A financial centre is a global city that is a company and business hub, as well as being home to many world famous banks and/or stock exchanges.

An international financial centre is a non-specific term of reference usually meant to designate a city as a major participant in international financial markets for the trading of cross-border assets. An international financial centre (sometimes abbreviated to IFC) will usually have at least one significant stock market as well as other financial markets, as well as being subject to a significant presence of international banks.

According to the WEF (World Economic Forum) London in the UK has now replaced Wall Street as the centre of the financial world, despite concerns over confidence in both American and European markets due to the recession.

Contents

Global Financial Centres Index

Main article: Global Financial Centres Index
The New York Stock Exchange

As of 2009, the top ten financial centres according to the Global Financial Centres Index in the world, by country are:[1][2]

  1. United Kingdom London
  2. United States New York City
  3. Hong Kong Hong Kong
  4. Singapore Singapore
  5. People's Republic of China Shenzhen
  6. Switzerland Zurich
  7. Japan Tokyo, Japan
  8. United States Chicago
  9. Switzerland Geneva
  10. People's Republic of China Shanghai

The Global Financial Centres Index is published by the City of London Corporation and is updated annually.

Criticism

This study, is given by the city of London.[3] Paris, though one of the four global cities is strangely ignored and ranked in twentieth position. Such sentence in conclusions is symptomatic: London’s lead as the main banking centre in Europe is consolidated as Frankfurt and Paris have both declined in the ratings, relative to other centres or London’s lead as a broad based financial centre in Europe certainly seems to have been consolidated. However a study undertaken by MasterCard also puts London as the world's centre of commerce. The financial crisis of 2009 has also highlighted the United Kingdom's dependence on the financial sector as it and the United States have been the most dramatically hit, France and Germany have not had to intervene in the financial sector anywhere near as much as the UK, as their financial sectors are much smaller.

Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index

Main article: Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index

As of 2008, the top ten commercial centres according to the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index in the world, by country are:[4]

  1.  United Kingdom - London
  2.  United States - New York City
  3.  Japan - Tokyo
  4.  Singapore
  5.  United States - Chicago
  6.  Hong Kong
  7.  France - Paris
  8.  Germany - Frankfurt
  9.  South Korea - Seoul
  10.  Netherlands - Amsterdam

The Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index is published by MasterCard Worldwide and is updated annually.

List of Major financial centres by location

Africa

Americas

Chicago, United States
San Francisco, United States
São Paulo, Brazil

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Sydney, Australia

Offshore Financial Centres

Main article: Offshore financial centre

An offshore financial centre, although not precisely defined, is usually a low-tax, lightly regulated jurisdiction which specializes in providing the corporate and commercial infrastructure to facilitate the use of that jurisdiction for the formation of offshore companies and for the investment of offshore funds.

The term offshore financial centre is a relatively modern neologism, first coined in the 1980s.[7] Although the terms are not synonymous, many leading offshore finance centres are regarded as "tax havens", and the lack of precise definitions often leads to confusion between the concepts. In Tolley's International Initiatives Affecting Financial Havens[8] the author in the Glossary of Terms defines an "offshore financial centre" in forthright terms as "a politically correct term for what used to be called a tax haven." However, he then qualifies this by adding "The use of this term makes the important point that a jurisdiction may provide specific facilities for offshore financial centres without being in any general sense a tax haven."

See also

References

  1. ^ The Global Financial Centres Index 6
  2. ^ "Asian cities close in on London and New York in Global Financial Centres Index; Dublin tumbles 13 places." Finfacts Ireland.
  3. ^ (French) Un outil de propagande financière?
  4. ^ "Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index 2008". Mastercard. http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/insights/pdfs/2008/MCWW_WCoC-Report_2008.pdf. 
  5. ^ "Hong Kong surpasses New York in IPOs". International Herald Tribune. 2006-12-25. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/25/business/borse.php. Retrieved 2008-02-01. 
  6. ^ Ed Feulner (2008-01-22). "Football and economic freedom". IndyStar. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080122/OPINION/801220318/-1/LOCAL17. Retrieved 2008-02-04. 
  7. ^ Offshore Financial Centres, Richard Roberts, ISBN 1-85898-155-7
  8. ^ ISBN 0-406-94264-1, Tim Bennett (2001)

External links


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