Z/Yen Group

  The twenty-ninth edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 29) was published on 17 March 2021. GFCI 29 provides evaluations of future competitiveness and rankings for 114 financial centres around the world. The GFCI serves as a valuable reference for policy and investment decision-makers. China Development Institute (CDI) in Shenzhen and Z/Yen Partners in London collaborate in producing the GFCI. The GFCI is updated and published every March and September, and receives considerable attention from the global financial community. 126 financial centres were researched for GFCI 29 of which 114 are now in the main index. The GFCI is compiled using 143 instrumental factors. These quantitative measures are provided by third parties including the World Bank, the Economist Intelligence Unit, the OECD and the United Nations. The instrumental factors are combined with financial centre assessments provided by respondents to the GFCI online questionnaire. GFCI 29 uses 65,507 assessments from 10,774 respondents. The results of GFCI 29 include:GFCI 29 shows a relatively high level of stability in the top half of the index, with few centres changing 10 or more places in the rankings. In the lower half of the index, there was more volatility, perhaps reflecting some uncertainty about the resilience of emerging and smaller centres.The average rating of centres in the index dropped only 3.5 points (-0.55%) from GFCI 28 (41 points from GFCI 27 to GFCI 28), which may indicate more confidence in the financial system than in the first stages of the covid-19 pandemic.The fact that overall ratings have not recovered to the levels that we saw in 2019 reflects the continuing uncertainty around international trade, the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, and geopolitical and local unrest.Nine of the top 10 centres in the index fell in the ratings, with London and Tokyo falling over 10 points. With the top centres dropping, might this be due to central banks taking the reins during covid-19 Note: Under Half yearly data: H1 gives "March" Publication. H2 gives "September" Publication.