Although Frankfurt and Paris have struggled to become Europe’s largest financial centers, the most recent surveys show that London will remain the largest financial center in the world, surpassing New York in terms of financial attractiveness, even if Britain leaves the European Union, writes Reuters.
Britain’s departure from the economic bloc has fueled speculation among world’s most influential politicians and economists that London will lose its status as the world’s first financial center, but there is currently no significant evidence to support this prediction.
London was ranked first, followed by New York, Hong Kong and Singapore in the GFCI (global financial centers index) index by Z / Yen.
This index classifies 92 financial centers taking into account factors such as infrastructure and access to highly skilled workforce.
New York ranked 24 points behind the British capital, with a slight difference between the two reaching an unprecedented peak in 2007.
The New York score dropped 24 points last year, with the largest drop in top competitors.
The authors of the study claim this decline was probably generated by the instability surrounding the US trading market.
Since becoming president in January, Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Trans-Pacific Trade Treaty and is pursuing an increasingly isolationist economic policy.
Britain’s most powerful financial lobby group, TheCityUk, draws attention to complacency in the situation and demands clarity and transparency in the EU’s exit agreements, which will be applied after April 2019 when the UK should leave the union.
In June, since the poll was conducted, talks between Brexit Minister David Davis and European Commission correspondent Michel Barnier are taking place in an increasingly arrogant way.