GFCI9: London remains in 'poll' position

The results of the 9th edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI9) for March 2011 show that London is still ranked first. London increased its lead slightly to 12 points in March and remains top in all five key measures of competitiveness: people, business environment, market access, infrastructure and general competitiveness.

Overall there is little change amongst the first 10 centres:

1.    London
2.    New York              
3.    Hong Kong           
4.    Singapore             
5=   Shanghai           
5=   Tokyo               
7.    Chicago               
8.    Zurich                   
9.    Geneva               
10= Sydney                
10= Toronto  

Overall the only changes in the ranking of the top 10 centres is Shanghai moving from 6th to equal 5th with Tokyo and Toronto rising two places to be equal 10th with Sydney. Outside the top 10 centres the most significant shift in ranking was Seoul which moved up eight places to 16th. The biggest fallers in the top 50 were Bahrain, down seven places to 49th and Dublin down four places to 33rd.

Overall, there has been a drift down in ratings due to falling confidence, with 47 centres having a lower rating and 25 a higher rating. Asia continues to exhibit enhanced competitiveness with eight centres in the top 20 compared with six North American and five European. The top five centres that are most likely to become more significant over the next few years are all in Asia: Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong and Beijing. Apart from the Channel Islands, London is the only European centre in the top 10 where new offices are likely to be opened in the next few years.