The Global Financial Centres Index
Table 27 Top 5 Financial Centres that Might Become more Significant
Financial Centre
Number of times mentioned
Dubai
31
Shanghai
29
Beijing
15
Moscow
11
Mumbai
11
Question 14 of the questionnaire asked in which financial centre (or centres) is the respondent’s organisation most likely to open up a new operation within the next two to three years. The five centres mentioned the most (based on responses received since GFCI 1) are shown in Table 28.
Table 28 Top 5 Financial Centres where Organisations may Open New Operations in the Next 2 to 3 Years
Financial Centre
Number of times mentioned
Dubai
15
Singapore
10
Shanghai
9
Mumbai
7
Beijing
7
Dubai, Shanghai, Beijing and Mumbai are clearly centres that will need to be monitored closely in future updates of the GFCI. Dubai and Mumbai both gained slightly in the GFCI 2 ratings as a result of more positive assessments from the questionnaire in comparison with GFCI 1. It seems that it is too early for the interest in Shanghai and Beijing shown in Table 28 to be reflected in the GFCI 2 ratings. There seem to be two conflicting schools of thought about Shanghai and Beijing. Some respondents think that it is almost inevitable that they will become very important international financial centres because of the growth of the Chinese economy. Other respondents doubt the ability of the Chinese government to provide a stable and sufficiently competitive regulatory and economic environment. The GFCI will track the progress of the main Chinese financial centres to shed light on any changes.
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