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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.

Financial centres have existed throughout history in ancient centres such as Babylon, Constantinople, Rome and Timbuktu.

As of September 2007, the top 10 financial centres according to the Global Financial Centres Index in the world are:^[1]

• London, United Kingdom
• New York, United States
• Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
• Singapore, Singapore
• Zürich, Switzerland
• Frankfurt, Germany
• Geneva, Switzerland
• Chicago, United States
• Sydney, Australia
• Tokyo, Japan

Other financial centres include:

• Milan, Italy
• Paris, France
• Boston, United States
• Toronto, Canada
• San Francisco, United States
• Seoul, South Korea
• Dublin, Ireland
• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Luxembourg, Luxembourg
• Washington D.C., United States
• Melbourne, Australia
• Edinburgh, United Kingdom
• Calgary, Canada
• Shanghai, China
• Houston, United States
• Montreal, Canada
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The Global Financial Centres Index by City of London Corporation is updated annually.

"Financial centres are where market liquidity is and market liquidity is very hard to move. Nobody can move liquidity unilaterally and so once a global centre such as London or New York has been established it is virtually impossible to move. It will take a number of significant factors, acting over a number of years to alter the status quo now that it has been established." (Head of Trading, London-based investment bank)

Examples of European financial centres

• London is one of the three leading world financial centres. It is famous for its banks and Europe's largest stock exchange, that have been established over hundreds of years (e.g. Lloyd's of London, London Stock Exchange). The financial market of London is also commonly referred to as the City. It has historically been situated around the part of London called the Square Mile, but in the 1980s and 1990s a large part of the City of London's wholesale financial services relocated to Canary Wharf.

• Frankfurt plays a major role in German economics, and is famous for its tall skyscrapers and world-wide businesses such as Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. Frankfurt is also home to the European Central Bank.

• Zurich is well known for its banks.
• Geneva is home of the World Trade Organization.
• Basel is home to the Bank for International Settlements.

• Paris is home to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

See also

• Qatar Financial Centre

References

External links

• The Competitive Position of London as a Global Financial Centre