Hong Kong on brink of becoming world's top financial centre, says index architect

Hong Kong stands on the brink of overtaking New York and London as the world's number-one financial centre, with the shift now a question of when rather than if, according to the architect of the industry's most closely watched ranking.

"It's going to happen because it's so tight," Michael Mainelli, chairman of London-based think tank Z/Yen Group, told the South China Morning Post in an interview on Tuesday. The March edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), compiled twice a year by Z/Yen and Shenzhen's China Development Institute, placed Hong Kong third, trailing London by a single point and New York by two.

Asia's structural rise

Mainelli attributed the tightening race to a broader structural shift towards Asia, which now accounts for roughly 40 per cent of global finance. "At some point, there will be an event," he said, meaning a change at the top of the rankings. The next edition of the index is set for release later this month.

Hong Kong is well placed to compete for the top spot given its legal predictability and low tax burden, Mainelli said. Recent macroeconomic volatility, including geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, had weighed on the ratings of some major hubs, but Hong Kong's underlying framework was unusually resilient, he added.

An Asian city will eventually overtake London and New York, as long as it maintains openness and predictability, according to the GFCI creator.

Source: South China Morning Post