Duff & Phelps, which includes regulatory consultancy and advisory among its business lines, has downgraded London versus New York as the world's leading financial centre in its latest Global Regulatory Outlook 2019 report, and lays the blame squarely with uncertainty related to Brexit.
The report cites other factors such as trade wards and global financial volatility as leading to the shift, as the report has found that among financial sector professionnals there has been a significant 17% decrease in the number who now view London as the foremost global financial hub. Some 36% see it thus, while New York scores 52% - having experienced a 10% uplift in the number of respondents that place it at the top.
And the bad news for London potentially does not stop with this, the seventh annual report, because it has also asked respondents for their outlook five years into the future. Just 21% said that London would be the world's financial centre in 2024. New York scores 44%, while Hong Kong scores 12%.
Duff & Phelps concludes that Hong Kong's score reflects "the beginning of the 'Age of Asia'", along with lower confidence in the UK capital in the wake of Brexit.
Monique Melis, managing director, Compliance and Regulatory Consulting at Duff & Phelps, noted: "Brexit has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the UK's world-class financial sector and its ability to dominate other major financial hubs in the coming years. Looking ahead, we see the combined effects of Brexit and the emergence of Asia with respondents expecting Hong Kong to play a bigger role as a leading global financial centre."
To read the full report, including sections on how the industry is dealing with anti-money laundering and whistleblowing, click here: https://www.duffandphelps.com/insights/publications/compliance-and-regulatory-consulting/global-regulatory-outlook-2019
