LONDON (Reuters) – New York remained easily the world’s largest financial center while London remains in second place and is making some progress, but it also faces a tougher battle with Singapore and Hong Kong, the global financial centers index showed on Thursday.
New York, which has held first place since London’s ouster in September 2018, remains ahead by 763 points based on surveys of 147 workers covering 121 positions provided by third parties, including the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations.
London closed the gap with New York slightly, reaching 744 points, which is likely to bring relief there given concerns about post-Brexit competitiveness after high-profile companies such as British chip designer Arm Holdings decided to list in New York.
However, Singapore is now just two points behind London at 742nd, and itself just one point ahead of Hong Kong in fourth place, indicating an intense battle for second place.
The index is compiled every six months by the London-based research center Z/Yen and the China Development Institute.
“US centers performed well, with five US centers in the top 10, reflecting the strength of the US economy,” the survey said, adding that New York maintained its lead in separate fintech rankings, followed by London, which overtook San Francisco.
(Reporting by Hugh Jones Editing by Mark Potter)
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