IFSC tumbles down league table of financial centres

DUBLIN’S standing as a financial services centre has fallen dramatically in the past 12 months, according to a new report.

Statistics from the Global Financial Centres Index show the IFSC’s ranking has plummeted to 23rd place from 10th place in 2008.

A key speaker at a Dublin City Council seminar on the future of the centre yesterday called for urgent action. That will require a significant improvement in the business environment, which itself will need a focus on rebuilding the strength of ‘brand Ireland’, said Professor Michael Mainelli of London-based think-tank Z/Yen. Dublin must “continue to nurture the insurance industry and investigate the potential to utilise tax advantages and current strengths as a trusted or ‘long finance’ centre working with national and international governments,” he said.