By Jonathan Boyd From International Investment

London beating has beaten New York by a single point according to the 23rd issue of the Global Financial Centres Index.

The Index considers 103 factors on the basis of quantitative measures provided by the World Bank, Economist Intelligence Unit, OECD and UN. Findings are combined with over 28,000 assessments provided via an online questionnaire that collected answers from 2,300 financial services professionals. The 23rd Index researched 110 centres, with Astana, Baku, New Delhi and Tianjiin added to the main Index from the associated centres list.

Accordingly, this latest Index has placed the UK capital on as score of 794/1,000, against New York on 793/1,000.

However, among the key findings of the latest Index is that there are now less then 50 points between the top 5 ranked centers. The research has also found a bias trend towards the top 25 centres, which all increased their ratings, while the ratings fell for all the lowest 50 ranked centres.

On a regional basis, centres in Europe experienced mixed performance – Hamburg, Munich, Monaco and Madrid were among those rising up the ratings, but centres in Eastern Europe fell, particularly Tallinn and Riga.

In Asia, Qingdao, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Busan experienced “significant rises”.

A number of centres in North America improved their positions, but Washington DC and Montreal fell.

The Middle East and Africa region illustrates how trends in the ratings contrast with rankings in the Index. Maruitius, Rihadh and Casablanca improved their rankings, despite experiencing a fall in their ratings – the score out of 1,000.

Meanwhile, all centres in Latin America and the Caribbean fell in the ratings, except for the Cayman Islands. On a ranking basis, six of the regional centres gained places. The Index suggests that the Cayman Islands is now the leading centre in the region.

For the UK’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories it was a mixed picture. Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man all fell in the ratings.

Commenting on the trends, Mark Yeandle, director of Z/Yen Partners and the author of the GFCI 23, noted that London had managed to remain on top despite Brexit concerns. However, it “rose less than any other centre in the top 15”.

China saw eight of its financial centres enter the GFCI, indicative of the ongoing shift of global economic power.

To read the full report, click here: http://www.longfinance.net/images/gfci/GFCI_23.pdf

For more on this story go to: http://www.internationalinvestment.net/research/london-pips-ny-to-remain-top-financial-centre-gfci-23-reveals/