(March 17, 2014) – The two traditionally largest financial centres are fighting each other for supremacy, but hubs in the developing world are quickly creeping up on them, data research has found.
A bi-annual survey, the Global Financial Centres Index run by data service Long Finance, this week showed cities in Brazil, South Korea, and the Middle East have been making steady progress since 2007.
The graph below shows that while New York and London (black and dark blue lines) tussle at the top, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Kuala Lumpur, Riyadh, and Seoul (various colours) have shot up in the ranking of global financial centres.
The index uses a range of factors, including data from the World Bank along with transparency and compliance monitors, and interviews with investors and financial service employees working with and in the centres.
How easy it is to employ skilled staff is one of the top factors considered when constructing the index, and can hike a city up or down the scale.
As emerging and frontier markets have made efforts to train their workforce and opened their doors to investors and business alike, they have consequently risen up the index.
Few western or developed markets have made great strides in the index over the past six years, while many offshore jurisdictions have similarly plateaued.
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