Island bucks trend to move up global financial rankings
GUERNSEY has moved up the rankings of an international index of finance centres – with Jersey climbing higher up the list as well.
The latest Global Financial Centres Index puts Guernsey in 75th spot and Jersey at 39, with the Isle of Man trailing both in 86th position out of 126 centres that were researched. Guernsey moved up four places in the rankings, while Jersey moved up 10 and the Isle of Man fell by nine.
The index is put together by Z/Yen, which describes itself as the City of London’s leading commercial think-tank, and the China Development Institute in Shenzhen.
Rupert Pleasant, chief executive of Guernsey Finance, the island’s promotional agency for the financial services sector, welcomed the improved rating.
‘The past year has been an extremely challenging one for the global financial services community,’ he said. ‘While even the top nine out of 10 larger jurisdictions have seen their positions drop, and the average rating of centres in the index has dropped by 3.5 points, for Guernsey to buck that trend and improve its position is excellent news and I believe demonstrates the resilience of our financial services sector.’
Globally, New York retained first place in the rankings, with London in second – but only by a point ahead of Shanghai in third.
Hong Kong moved up a place to fourth, with Singapore making up the top five.
The research also noted Frankfurt replaced San Francisco in the top 10 in this edition of the index. It gained seven rank places, leading the index authors to suggest Brexit could be the reason for Frankfurt’s move up the index.
