Moscow and Shanghai Approach World's Financial Center Status

In the rating of global financial centers created by Z/Yen Group Ltd., Moscow dropped from 67th to 68th place out of 75 available. There were some changes on the top of the list as well. London, despite being a leader, has to share the top place with New York as both cities received 775 points out of 1,000 available.

Compared to the last rating, London turned out to be a leader in lost points. The British capital has lost 15 points, the second negative result. New York, on the contrary, has gained one point.

Z/Yen Group Ltd. was first commissioned to compile Global Financial Centers report in March of 2007. The current rating was created in the second half of the last year, i.e., after the global financial crisis began subsiding. As a result, nearly all companies with minor exceptions have strengthened their positions. On average, the growth amounted to 23 points.

According to the rating creators, the positions of the top two leaders are still strong. Yet, the gap between them and Hong Kong that follows the leaders is getting smaller. A year ago the difference was 81 points, six months later it was 45 points, and now it is only 36 points. “Semi-Chinese metropolis” was awarded 739 points this year, with a gain of 10 points compared to last year.

Another former British colony, Singapore, follows Hong Kong. The city state still preserves its 4^th position with 733 балла . The top five includes Tokyo with 692 points (up two positions).

The gap between London and other large European financial centers has shrunk significantly. For example, the gap between London and Zurich was 114 points, and London and Frankfurt - 141 points. Now the difference has decreased to 98 and 114 points, respectively.

Moscow was awarded 516 points, 54 points more than last year. Yet, even this significant gain did not help Moscow to keep its previous position. Warsaw outran the Russian capital with 520 points, showing the maximum gain of 64 points.

Lisbon and Budapest placed at the bottom of the rating also managed to gain over 50 points. Moscow is followed by Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) with 507 points. Another Russian city, Saint Petersburg, also made it to the list with 501 points, which is 48 points gain compared to last year.

The creators of the rating divided all cities into 12 categories depending on the level of diversification of financial services as well as the level of globalization. The top category represents “Global Leaders.” The category includes the top four cities of the rating as well as Chicago (678 points, 6^th place), Zurich (677 points, 7^th place), Toronto (667 points, 12^th place) and Frankfurt (660 points, 13th place).

According to the rating authors, Moscow falls into the category “global contenders.” The category also includes Shanghai (11^th place, 668 points), Peking (15^th place, 651 points), Dubai (24^th place, 618 points). The authors think that these cities are well known in the financial world but not developed enough to be included into the category of “specialists” or “diversified centers.”

Anatoly Miranovsky.