In response to the suggestion – put forward by bankers and central bankers in the UK – that a temporary cut in capital adequacy requirements would stimulate new lending and economic growth, The Banker has simulated how a 1% lower Basel requirement might affect various major world economies.
Out of the top five international financial centres with the largest aggregate volume of bank assets, a mix of European, Asian and North American centres occupy the top places in both the ranking that considers bank holdings incorporated in a certain jurisdiction, and the one of foreign-owned subsidiaries operating in the centre.
Foreign direct investment into the eurozone’s financial centres has been in decline since the onset of the region’s crisis. However, thanks to some encouraging government policies, Dublin has defied the trend, attracting its highest ever level of FDI in 2011.
Foreign direct investment into the eurozone's financial centres has been in decline since the onset of the region's crisis. However, thanks to some encouraging government policies, Dublin has defied the trend, attracting its highest ever level of FDI in 2011.
Caught between the reputational damage inflicted to the world of finance by the financial crisis and the overwhelming regulatory response to it, international financial centres the world over are being faced with a number if challenges very different to those they have faced before.
Hong Kong has been the world's biggest initial public offering market for the past two years. Is this a sign of a structural shift in the equity markets, in which companies' capital-raising strategy must include a Hong Kong/China element? And just how much are world leaders London and New York losing out to their Asian rivals?