Global survey says Cayman leading force in the Americas
The latest survey published this month by the Global Financial Centres Index has again established Cayman’s strong presence among the world’s top ranking financial centres, placing it third in the Global Offshore Financial Centres category, ahead of all competitors in the region including the British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Bermuda, and Panama.
A number of factors are taken into consideration when producing the rankings, which are produced by Z/Yen Group Limited, including the business environment of a jurisdiction, transparency of taxation, human capital, infrastructure, reputation, and market access. In addition, financial centre profiles have been identified using three key measures: speciality or the depth of a financial centre’s professional services offered; connectivity – the extent to which the centre is well known around the world; and diversity or the breadth of the financial industry sectors that flourish within the centre.
Gonzalo Jalles, CEO of Cayman Finance, believes the Cayman Islands ticks the boxes in all of the above criteria.
“The Cayman Islands excels in the depth of its service offering due to its exceptionally high quality of service professionals working within the financial services industry. We are well known globally among our peers for offering superior service, and we have a strong diversity within our product, excelling in insurance, banking, professional services, and investment management — all working within a well-regulated jurisdiction,” he said. “It therefore comes as little surprise the Cayman Islands again ranks so highly in the Global Financial Centres Inde
x.”
The GFCI provides ratings for financial centres calculated by a factor assessment model that uses two sets of input: instrumental factors, i.e. objective evidence of competitiveness sought from a wide variety of comparable sources, and financial centre assessments.
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New York topples London as leading financial centre
By John Glover from Business Day Live
LONDON — New York replaced London as the world’s leading financial centre for the first time, after the City was rocked by a series of scandals and questions over the UK’s place in the European Union (EU).
New York ranks first in the latest Global Financial Centres Index, compiled by Z/Yen Group, with a “shaky, statistically insignificant” two-point lead, according to chairman Michael Mainelli. Competition is heating up, with Hong Kong and Singapore, the two leading Asian centres, narrowing the gap between themselves and the top two to fewer than 30 points on a scale of 1,000.
Scandals including banks abusing selling clients unneeded insurance, manipulation of financial benchmarks and trading losses, have combined to damage the City’s standing, just as plans for a referendum on EU membership cast doubt on the terms of its access to that market. While New York has challenged London for the podium since the index began, a seven-point rise in its rating won it the top spot after the UK capital suffered a 10-point decline, the largest of any centre in the top 50.
“London needs a reputation that everyone who comes will be treated fairly and can compete fairly,” said Mr Mainelli. “Without the large domestic economies behind New York and Hong Kong, London needs to act more like a Singaporean city state or have the backing of a European Union domestic economy.”
The index, which is updated every six months, is compiled from replies to an online survey. It also uses external gauges including rankings for specific areas such as telecommunications. First published in 2007, it takes into account five broad areas — the business environment, finance, infrastructure, human capital and reputation.
The UK “is determined to build a banking sector that boosts the economy and supports consumers and businesses”, the Treasury said. “It is creating a framework that promotes a responsible and sustainable financial services industry, tackling the issues of competition and risk in the banking sector.”
London mayor Boris Johnson made a six-day visit to China in October at the same time that Chancellor George Osborne headed a trade mission to the world’s second-largest economy. The UK government wants London to become the leading centre for offshore trading of the Chinese yuan and securities in that currency, and also wants to encourage the growth of Islamic finance.
London has also suffered because the UK’s place in the EU is not certain and because it is not clear that Scotland will remain in the union, according to Z/Yen.
Picture: REUTERS
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