New York still top, Moscow sinks in finance center ranking

A view of the New York City skyline of Manhattan and the Hudson River), as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey, U.S. April 18, 2020. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File photo

LONDON – New York remains far and away the world’s most favored financial center, with London still second and Singapore overtaking Hong Kong to come in third, latest rankings from the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) showed on Thursday.

Paris returned to the top 10 to replace Tokyo, but Moscow sank 22 places to 73rd as Western countries severed ties with the capital after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, GFCI said.

GFCI, compiled by Z/Yen, a City of London think tank, and the China Development Institute, rated 119 centers using 66,121 assessments from 11,038 financial professionals, and quantitative data.

New York has held the top position among global financial centers ranked by GFCI for four years, overtaking London.

“London’s second position looks secure but needs a significant global change to once again challenge for the top place,” said Michael Mainelli, chairman of Z/Yen.

Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss wants to ‘unshackle’ the UK financial sector from rules which date to when the country was in the European Union in order to increase London’s attraction as a global financial center.

A new bill before the UK parliament in July sets out many tweaks to financial rules, but Truss wants to go further, signaling the government may scrap a cap on bankers’ bonuses inherited from the EU.

New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles topped GFCI’s separate fintech sector ratings, with London fourth and Shanghai fifth.