London retains place atop global financial centre index despite Brexit

Concerns over Britain’s impending departure from the EU have been unable to prevent London from retaining its number-one spot as the leading global financial centre in the world.

In a survey conducted by thinktank Z/Yen, which ranks the world’s top financial hubs in terms of attractiveness for the industry, London actually increased its lead over New York amidst concerns for the City’s post-Brexit reputation.

With little change noted at the top of the Global Financial Centres Index in its latest release on Monday, with Singapore and Hong Kong narrowing the gap on the top two.

Significantly, some of the European hubs which have been vying to boost their profiles at the expense of London rose up the rankings.

Frankfurt was one of the biggest movers in the GFCI as it seeks to be one of the chief benefactors of jobs being relocated out of the UK.

The German city moved up to 11th in the league from 23rd last year.

Dublin is another city expected to do well in any restructuring of the financial sector caused by Brexit, and it moved up three places to 30th in the rankings.

Several financial institutions have already indicated plans to move staff and operations out of the English capital, including HSBC, Barclays and Morgan Stanley, but London appears to be maintaining its standing as a leading hub for the sector.