Dubai most likely financial centre to become significant in the future

Zooming up the ranks of global financial centres to number 22, Dubai was ranked highest as the city most likely to become significant in the future. Other cities scoring highly on this question included Qatar, ranked 45th, Singapore and Shanghai.

The Global Financial Centres Index covers 59 cities around the world. It was commissioned by the City of London and calculated by the Z/Yen group based on surveys together with publicly available indices of financial activity, infrastructure and affordability.

London remains pre-eminent among global financial centres but its lead over Asian and Middle Eastern centres is falling. New York is ranked second, while Singapore displaces Hong Kong into third position and then follows Zurich, Geneva and Tokyo, two place up from the last survey but still only seventh in the world.

The gap between Singapore and New York is closing and reflects the broad transfer of wealth from west to east. And both Dubai and Singapore benefited in the survey from the fact that they are recruiting staff at a poor time for employment in most financial centres.

Old Europe was a big loser in the survey with Frankfurt down nine places to ninth and Paris tumbling six to number 20. How long will it be before today’s pretenders are at the top of the list?

Certainly the American financial crisis and the transatlantic connection with London can only hasten this day. In the meantime, bankers and other financial professionals will continue to pack their bags for Singapore, Dubai and Doha.