Financial Centre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A financial centre is a global city that is a company and business hub, as well as being home to many world famous banks and/or stock exchanges.

An international financial centre is a non-specific term of reference usually meant to designate a city as a major participant in international financial markets for the trading of cross-border assets. An international financial centre (sometimes abbreviated to IFC) will usually have at least one significant stock market as well as other financial markets, as well as being subject to a significant presence of international banks.

Financial centres have existed throughout history in ancient centres such as Babylon, Constantinople and Rome.

Contents 1 Global Financial Centres Index 2 List of Major financial centres by location 2.1 Asia 2.2 Americas 2.3 Europe 2.4 Oceania 3 Offshore 4 Criticism 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Global Financial Centres Index

As of March 2009, the top ten financial centres according to the Global Financial Centres Index in the world, by country are:^[1]

1.  United Kingdom - London
2.  United States - New York City
3.  Singapore
4.  Hong Kong
5.  Switzerland - Zurich
6.  Switzerland - Geneva
7.  United States - Chicago
8.  Germany - Frankfurt
9.  United States - Boston
10.  Ireland - Dublin

The Global Financial Centres Index is published by the City of London Corporation and is updated annually.

[edit] List of Major financial centres by location

[edit] Asia

•  China - Shanghai
•  China - Shenzhen
•  Hong Kong, which has one of the largest stock exchanges in Asia (namely, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) by market capitalisation, the world's second-highest value of initial public offerings,^[2] and is the world's freest economy.^[3]
•  India - Mumbai
•  Japan - Tokyo
•  Pakistan - Karachi
•  Singapore, which has significance in foreign exchange and derivatives trading, and the REITs market.
•  South Korea - Seoul
•  Taiwan - Taipei

[edit] Americas

•  Argentina - Buenos Aires
•  Brazil - São Paulo, which is the wealthiest city of Brazil and the largest financial centre in Latin America. Home of the BM&F Bovespa, the 3th largest stock exchange in the world market value.
•  Brazil - Rio de Janeiro
•  Canada - Toronto, home to the World Headquarters of Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust, Bank of Canada and home to the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).
•  Canada - Vancouver
•  Mexico - Mexico City
•  United States - Boston
•  United States - Chicago, home of the leading derivatives markets: Chicago Board of Trade, Eurex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
•  United States - New York, home of (amongst others) the New York Stock Exchange (the world's largest by capitalisation), the NASDAQ and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.
•  United States - San Francisco

[edit] Europe

•  Finland - Helsinki
•  France - Paris
•  Germany - Frankfurt, home of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Europe's second largest) and Xetra.
•  Ireland - Dublin
•  Italy - Milan
•  Netherlands - Amsterdam
•  Russia - Moscow
•  Sweden - Stockholm
•  Switzerland - Geneva
•  Switzerland - Zürich
•  United Kingdom - Edinburgh, Scotland
•  United Kingdom - the City of London (often referred to as "the City"), London, home of (amongst others) the London Stock Exchange, AIM (the world's largest small-cap exchange) and Lloyd's of London insurance market.

[edit] Oceania

•  Australia - Sydney
•  Australia - Melbourne
•  New Zealand - Auckland

[edit] Offshore

An offshore financial centre, although not precisely defined, is usually a low-tax, lightly regulated jurisdiction which specializes in providing the corporate and commercial infrastructure to facilitate the use of that jurisdiction for the formation of offshore companies and for the investment of offshore funds.

The term offshore financial centre is a relatively modern neologism, first coined in the 1980s.^[4] Although the terms are not synonymous, many leading offshore finance centres are regarded as "tax havens", and the lack of precise definitions often leads to confusion between the concepts. In Tolley's International Initiatives Affecting Financial Havens^[5] the author in the Glossary of Terms defines an "offshore financial centre" in forthright terms as "a politically correct term for what used to be called a tax haven." However, he then qualifies this by adding "The use of this term makes the important point that a jurisdiction may provide specific facilities for offshore financial centres without being in any general sense a tax haven."

[edit] Criticism

This study, which is given by the city of London ^[6], is suspected of having the point to surestimate the role of London by any means. Paris, though one of the four global cities is strangely ignored and ranked in 20th position. Such sentence in conclusions is symptomatic : London’s lead as the main banking centre in Europe is consolidated as Frankfurt and Paris have both declined in the ratings, relative to other centres or London’s lead as a broad based financial centre in Europe certainly seems to have been consolidated. However a study undertaken by Mastercard also puts London as the worlds centre of commerce.

[edit] See also

• Qatar Financial Centre
• Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Competitive Position of London as a Global Financial Centre
• International financial centres