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.
According to the WEF (World Economic Forum) London in the United Kingdom has now replaced Wall Street as the centre of the financial world, despite concerns over confidence in both American and European markets due to the recession.
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As of 2009, the top ten financial centres according to the Global Financial Centres Index in the world are:[1][2]
The Global Financial Centres Index is published by the City of London Corporation and is updated annually.
This study, is given by the city of London.[3] The financial crisis of 2009 has also highlighted the United Kingdom's dependence on the financial sector as it and the United States have been the most dramatically hit, France and Germany have not had to intervene in the financial sector anywhere near as much as the UK, as their financial sectors are much smaller.
As of 2008, the top ten commercial centres according to the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index in the world, by country are:[4]
The Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index is published by MasterCard Worldwide and is updated annually.
Argentina - Buenos Aires, is one of the largest financial centres in Latin America. Home of the MERVal and of the Argentine Headquarters of HSBC.
Brazil - São Paulo, which is the wealthiest city of Brazil and the most important financial centre in Latin America. Home of the BM&F Bovespa, the 13th largest stock exchange in the world in terms of market value. Brazil - Rio de Janeiro Brazil - Belo Horizonte
Mexico - Mexico City
Chile - Santiago
Canada - Montreal, legal headquarters of Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal. Canada - Toronto, operational headquarters of the five biggest Canadian banks and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Canada - Vancouver
Panama - Panama 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 United States - Washington, D.C.
China - Beijing 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,[5] and is the world's freest economy.[6]
India - Mumbai India - New Delhi India - Bangalore
Indonesia - Jakarta
Japan - Osaka Japan - Tokyo
Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur
Pakistan - Karachi
Philippines - Makati
Singapore, which has significance in foreign exchange and derivatives trading, and the REITs market.
South Korea - Seoul is one of the main financial centers in East Asia, along with Tokyo, Japan. Home to many foreign financial institutions, banks, and other world corporations, Seoul is fast becoming a choice for foreign investors.
Taiwan - Taipei
Thailand - Bangkok
Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City
Austria - Vienna
Belgium - Brussels
Czech Republic - Prague
Denmark - Copenhagen
Finland - Helsinki
France - Paris
Germany - Frankfurt, home of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Europe's second largest) and Xetra.
Greece - Athens
Hungary - Budapest
Ireland - Dublin
Italy - Milan
Netherlands - Amsterdam
Norway - Oslo
Poland - Warsaw
Portugal - Lisbon
Russia - Moscow
Spain - Madrid
Sweden - Stockholm
Switzerland - Geneva Switzerland - Zürich
Turkey - Istanbul
United Kingdom - Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom - Leeds, the UK's second largest financial centre. 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.An offshore financial centre, although not precisely defined, is usually a small, low-tax jurisdiction specialising in providing the corporate and commercial services to non-residents in the form of offshore companies and the investment of offshore funds.
The term offshore financial centre is a relatively modern neologism, first coined in the 1980s.[7] 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[8] 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."
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