Today the Z/Yen Group published the thirteenth Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 13) sponsored by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority and covering 79 financial centres.

Major developments since GFCI 13 include:

• London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore remain the top four centres. London's ratings seem to have been unaffected by the LIBOR scandal. Hong Kong and Singapore are now only two points apart. There is a 40 point spread between London in first place and Singapore in fourth. There is then a gap of 26 points to Zurich in fifth place.
• The financial centres in Europe are still in turmoil as the Eurozone crisis continues. Zurich and Geneva confirm their position in the top ten. Frankfurt and Paris rise significantly and have closed the gap on London a little. Luxembourg, Vienna, Milan and Rome also show improvements and also move slightly closer to London. Lisbon, Reykjavik, Budapest and Athens however decline, and remain at the bottom of the GFCI rankings. Athens in 79th place is now 68 points adrift of the 78th centre Budapest.
• All Asia/Pacific centres except Beijing see their ratings improve in GFCI 13. This confirms our thinking that the decline in ratings in GFCI 12 was a temporary pause rather than the end of their long term improvements. Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Tokyo experience the strongest rises in the region. Beijing however is the largest faller in GFCI 13, down by 15 places.
• All centres in the Americas see their ratings improve although Chicago, Toronoto and San Francisco fall slightly in the ranks. Boston enters the GFCI top ten, climbing to 8th place. Boston was previously in 11th place and has now moved just above Seoul, Chicago and Toronto. All Latin American centres make significant progress in terms of both rankings and ratings. Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are now in the GFCI top 50 both having climbed four places. Buenos Aires makes a significant gain of 55 points and is now in 53rd place.
• Offshore centres continue to gain ground in GFCI 13 with good improvements in their ratings. Jersey and Guernsey remain the leading centres. These two are followed by Monaco (which we classify as 'offshore') which ranks 35th in GFCI 13, up by 25 ranks and 57 points since GFCI 12.

Download GFCI 13

To participate in GFCI 13 by rating the financial centres with which you are familiar, please take
the GFCI questionnaire

For more information on the GFCI, please contact mark_yeandle@zyen.com.