Only 33% of senior financial professionals currently see London as the world’s pre-eminent financial hub – marking the city’s second straight loss to New York.
It was in 2019 when London and New York switched places at the top, with much of the blame falling on Brexit. Now the 2020 edition of the Global Regulatory Outlook, which is published by global advisor Duff & Phelps, shows that 56% of those polled regard the US city as the most important financial center.
Two years ago, the figures were 53% for London and 42% for New York. Last year, the switcheroo left London with 36%; New York, 52%.
“It is difficult to avoid the suspicion that three years of uncertainty since the Brexit vote has contributed to London’s fall,” commented Monique Melis, managing director and global leader of compliance and regulatory consulting at Duff & Phelps.
“While London was still considered the pre-eminent financial hub in 2018, it could be that the shockwaves of the ongoing EU (European Union) negotiations have started to show. If this is the primary reason for London’s changing fortunes, then the resolution of the UK’s departure could see it bouncing back.”
Melis added: “After all, the financial services sector contributes about 7% of the UK economy’s output and £29 billion in tax revenues, so the UK government has a strong incentive to make London a more attractive place to do business post-Brexit.”
Duff & Phelps surveyed 240 senior executives working in financial services from the UK, the US, Asia, and a number of other jurisdictions from December 2019 to January 2020.
