London is the world’s financial centre, according to a recent survey of industry professionals.
The city overtook New York in terms of business environment, quality of workforce, infrastructure, and financial sector development.
New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo took second, third, fourth and fifth places respectively.
Zurich was the only other European city to rank among the world’s 10 leading financial centres, while Frankfurt took 14th place – making it the European Union’s second highest ranking city.
The UK capital benefited from the Conservative party’s landslide win in the general election, according to the research company Z/Yen.
The survey was carried out online and included more than 2,000 individuals around the world.
Chris Cummings, chief executive of lobby group TheCityUK, says that it’s critical the UK improves its relationship with the rest of Europe for sustained growth in the financial sector.
“London faces stiff challenges from other established centres, not just New York and the likes of Singapore, but also emerging centres in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. But it is the future of the UK’s relationship with the EU which is arguably the most pressing issue,” he said in a statement.
London takes the top spot despite the possibility of HSBC and Standard Chartered pulling their headquarters out of the city because of uncertainty about the future of the UK’s membership of the EU.
Z/Yen’s Mark Yeandle told CityAM the future of London is also at risk because of immigration laws.
“You can’t have an international financial centre without an international workforce,” he told the newspaper. “While London and New York still lead the field, the next four centres are all Asian. We are launching in China to mark the success of the Chinese centres in becoming more competitive.”
