Nearly all of the world's financial centers have rebounded from the financial crisis, but the gains have not been experienced equally across cities, a new ranking of global financial hubs suggests.
The biannual study, commissioned by the City of London and conducted by Z/Yen Group Ltd, ranks financial centers using data from a survey of international financial services professionals as its criteria.
In its latest incarnation, the GFC 7, the report indicates a growing confidence among the financial services community in the health and stability of the financial districts around the world, with 71 out the 75 included in the assessment experiencing an increase in their ratings. But interestingly, London -- which for the first time shared the first place ranking with another city -- was one of the few to see its rating drop.
Indeed, the assessment seems to reflect a shift away from the top two twin cities toward other, new focal points: even as several cities saw their scores creep up, the top two financial hubs hovered roughly around their scores from the previous survey, narrowing the gap between the long-time leaders and the rest. The study's authors maintain that this shift may be attributable to a disproportionate impact of the economic crisis on the top two cities. But it could also, they suggest, reflect wider emerging patterns in the global economy.
Check out the world's top 11 financial centers according to the GFC 7 and vote for the ones you think will continue to be -- or could emerge as -- global leaders below: