Dublin slips in financial survey

DUBLIN has slipped nine places in an annual survey measuring the status of international financial centres.

The seventh annual Global Financial Centres study — carried out by City of London-based economic think-tank Z/Yen — has ranked Dublin as joint 31st (along with the Canadian city of Hamilton) out of 45 leading international financial districts; which were measured in terms of such aspects as infrastructure, people skills, confidence and business environment.

While Dublin was ranked in 22nd place in the last edition of the study, the capital has only dropped one point in terms of rating, to 612 points.

London has retained its place as the leading international financial city, although it has been joined in top place by New York — respondents’ showing a slight concern for the English capital’s higher taxes and tighter regulatory system.

“All the major European centres display a good degree of consistency across the industry sub-indices and the area of competitiveness sub-indices. London is the leading financial centre in Europe, but Frankfurt, Zurich and Paris also perform well in all areas,” the report stated.

In European terms, the latest Z/Yen study ranks Dublin as mid-table — ahead of the likes of Munich, Brussels, Copenhagen and Madrid, but behind Paris, Edinburgh and Frankfurt.

In global terms, the top 10 list of financial hubs has a strong Asian influence — Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Shenzhen all featuring, with Shanghai and Beijing hovering just outside.

The report noted further that while its recent editions demonstrated uncertainty and confidence erosion stemming from the global financial crisis, the latest edition only featured four showing a decrease in their rating — albeit, Dublin being one.

It added, however, that the five centres suffering most from the crisis have been New York, London, Dubai, the Cayman Islands and Reykjavik.