The Global Financial Centres Index - 1 - Z/Yen

The Global Financial Centres IndexThe latest version of the City Brand Index shows London in 1st placefollowed by Paris in 2nd. New York is in 7th place and the otherNorth American cities Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto andWashington all feature in the top 15 whilst Tokyo, Hong Kong andSingapore are in 19th, 21st and 22nd places respectively. TheNation Brand is based on the sum of people’s perceptions of acountry across the following areas of national competence –tourism; exports; people; governance; culture and heritage; andinvestment and immigration. The UK is in 1st place, followed bySwitzerland in 2nd and Canada in 3rd. USA is in 10th.Nobody we spoke to believes that London or New York City willlose their positions as global financial centres within the next tenyears. If London and New York fall in popularity it will be due to afundamental, unforeseen, alteration in one or more of the factorsthat make financial centres attractive. Part of the continuingappeal of London to international companies reflects thecosmopolitan nature of London – it is a very international city.London, and to a slightly lesser extent, New York are characterisedby the best international firms doing business with each other –London provides an ideal environment. In an increasinglyinternational economy, London seems to have a solid future as aglobal financial centre.46