The City still leads the financial world but faces a fight on all fronts

Should we place faith in a survey, conducted in June but published this week, that says London is still the world’s pre-eminent financial centre? Yes, in the sense that no one challenges that long-standing claim as of today; no, in the sense that complacency would be a huge mistake while every financial firm operating in the City, the West End and Canary Wharf is busy making contingency plans for a bad Brexit outcome.

The gist of the six-monthly Z/Yen ‘Global Financial Centres Index’ — which assesses 92 cities around the world, taking account of everything from telecoms infrastructure to homicide rates — is that London has held its own at the top where it has always been, while Frankfurt has risen from 23rd to 11th place and improved its rating, which is the survey’s measure of perceived confidence and quality. Other European contenders such as Luxembourg, Paris and Dublin also moved up, but are not serious threats.