Financial center

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The financial center of Frankfurt am Main is the most important continental Europe after Zurich. The city is the seat of the European Central Bank .

A financial center (or financial center ; English financial center ) is a place or state that has a high concentration of the financial sector and where the existence and activities of market participants are not or barely restricted by market regulation , so that transactions can be carried out with lower transaction costs than elsewhere.

General

The financial sector includes the financial markets ( money , foreign exchange and capital markets including stock exchanges ) and market participants such as financial service providers , investment funds , credit institutions , pension funds , insurance companies or securities service companies . They all contribute to a high share of the financial economy in the gross domestic product , which makes a place or state a financial center.

An international financial center is usually a place where there are a large number of leading national and foreign financial institutions ( foreign banks ) that have business relationships with one another through interbank trade or international credit transactions .

Large cities or city-states ( Singapore , Monaco ) are usually referred to as financial centers , but the term is also used for (mostly) small states . The Switzerland is due to their tax law often referred to as a financial center. A special feature are so-called offshore financial centers , which are characterized by low taxes , a high degree of confidentiality and secrecy (no disclosure of information about financial transactions and ownership) and minimal financial market supervision and regulation. These are mostly smaller islands that represent separate legal entities (e.g. the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar as British overseas territories or the Channel Island of Jersey as the crown property of the British crown ).

species

Four categories of financial centers can be distinguished, which are hierarchically related to one another. On the first level are the national financial centers that target the needs of domestic market participants. The second level is formed by regional financial centers with responsibility for an economic region . The third level consists of offshore financial centers that have a low tax rate ( low-tax country ), low labor costs ( low-wage country ) or low market regulation . Global financial centers , including Frankfurt, meet the needs of a global clientele.

history

The first international financial center was probably Florence in the 13th century, which achieved this role mainly through international trade and by lending money to rulers. In northern and central Italy, with other financial centers such as Genoa and Venice, a first core area of ​​cashless payment transactions with an Italian character developed. In the 14th century the financial supremacy of the Florentines ended when Edward III. , the King of England, did not acknowledge his debts.

North of the Alps, the Nuremberg Stock Exchange served as a link in trade between Italy and other European economic centers. With the Banco Publico , one of the first giro banks was created in the financial center .

In the 17th century Amsterdam became the successor to Genoa. In contrast to the Italian city-state, Amsterdam was able to rely on the economy of a large-area state.

Within the next 200 years, Amsterdam lost its position to London . This followed from Britain's dominance in the economy in the 19th century through the Industrial Revolution , in the military after defeating Napoleon and the expansion of the British Empire, and from its lead in the development of banking and financial instruments (for example, checks ). Several other financial centers emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Geneva , Paris , Frankfurt am Main , Zurich and Milan , none of which could challenge London.

At the end of the 19th century brought Germany and the United States in the industry to the UK on. New York could not challenge London until the end of the First World War, and the Great Depression of 1929 interrupted the rise of New York, although London was also hit hard. After the Second World War, New York finally became the dominant financial center because it was the only major international financial center not directly affected by the war. New York could not hold this position for long. As early as 1958, London returned to the forefront of finance.

Nationally, Cologne's banking system gained great importance and made the city the most important German financial center during the French era up to the founding period .

In the 1980s, Japan was the only country able to export capital on a large scale. Normally, that should have resulted in Tokyo becoming the dominant financial hub in the world. However, the Japanese financial economy is less outward-looking than that of most other international financial centers. In addition, the bursting of the Japanese “soap bubble economy” has plunged the country's financial economy into a deep crisis.

Before the Second World War, Shanghai was the leading financial center in the Far East. The financial sector there was destroyed by the Second World War (1937 to 1945) and the civil war that followed (1946 to 1949). Until the beginning of the reform and opening policy in 1978, the communist government prevented Shanghai from rising again as an international financial center. Two new international financial centers emerged in the region after World War II: Hong Kong and Singapore .

supply and demand

On the demand side are domestic and transnational financial firms whose desire to expand and diversify is creating a demand for suitable urban facilities. Likewise, economic growth and expanding foreign trade lead to greater demand.

On the supply side, this demand can only be met by cities that invest heavily in the required infrastructure (airports, ports, roads, rail links, telecommunications, etc.), provide the financial sector with high-quality information infrastructure and limit popular resistance to gentrification .

List of the most important financial centers

The Global Financial Centers Index compares the competitiveness of 100 financial centers around the world based on 28,599 ratings from international financial players. The index is compiled by the Z / Yen Group and published semi-annually by the City of London Corporation . The following data is taken from the September 2018 index (Global Financial Centers Index 24).

The ranking results from the total of the five categories of people (availability of qualified workers, flexibility of the labor market, quality of training), economic framework conditions (legislation, taxes, corruption, freedom of trade), market access (trading in securities, range of different financial services ), Infrastructure (real estate prices, accessibility by public transport) and general competitiveness (price level, quality of life, economic climate).

The index also makes a classification according to whether financial centers are of global importance ( Global Centers ) or whether they are financial centers with only transnational importance ( Transnational Centers ) or local centers ( Local Centers ). There are further gradations in these categories.

  • Financial centers of global importance
    • Worldwide importance is ascribed to 27 financial centers. These are in turn divided into four subcategories: Global Leaders (broad and established financial centers), Global Diversified (relatively broad financial centers), Global Specialists (more specialized financial centers) and Global Contenders (emerging financial centers).
  • Financial centers with international significance
    • 34 financial centers are assigned a transnational significance. Subdivisions are made as to whether they are broadly based and established financial centers ( Established Transnational ), relatively broadly based ( Transnational Diversified ), more specialized ( Transnational Specialists ) or newly emerging financial centers ( Transnational Contenders ).
  • Financial centers of local importance
    • 39 financial centers are of local importance for the respective state in which they are located. These are also divided into broadly based and established financial centers ( Established Players ), relatively broadly based ( Local Diversified ), more specialized ( Local Specialists ) or emerging financial centers ( Evolving Centers ).

For comparison, the data from the Global Financial Centers Index 8 March 2017 are shown.

Financial center country GFCI score 24 category Change of rank
GFCI 23
GFCI score 22
London United KingdomUnited Kingdom Great Britain 788 Global Leader   794
New York City United StatesUnited States United States 786 Global Leader   1 792
Hong Kong Hong KongHong Kong Hong Kong 783 Global Leader   0 781
Singapore SingaporeSingapore Singapore 769 Global Leader   1 765
Shanghai China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 766 Global Leader   1 741
Tokyo JapanJapan Japan 746 Global Leader   1 749
Sydney AustraliaAustralia Australia 734 Global Leader   2 724
Beijing China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 733 Global Leader   3 721
Zurich SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 732 Global Leader   7 713
Frankfurt am Main GermanyGermany Germany 730 Global Leader   10 708
Toronto CanadaCanada Canada 728 Global Leader   4 728
Shenzhen China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 726 Global specialist   6 710
Boston United StatesUnited States United States 725 Transnational Diversified   3 722
San Francisco United StatesUnited States United States 724 Established transnational   6 726
Dubai United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 722 Global Leader   4 709
los Angeles United StatesUnited States United States 721 Established transnational   1 712
Chicago United StatesUnited States United States 717 Global Diversified   3 718
Vancouver CanadaCanada Canada 709 Transnational Diversified   3 717
Guangzhou China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 708 Established transnational   9 678
Melbourne AustraliaAustralia Australia 699 Established transnational   8 720
Luxembourg LuxembourgLuxembourg Luxembourg 694 Global Contender   7 701
Osaka JapanJapan Japan 693 Established player   1 692
Paris FranceFrance France 691 Global Leader   1 687
Montreal CanadaCanada Canada 690 Established transnational   11 719
Tel Aviv IsraelIsrael Israel 689 Established player   9 661
Abu Dhabi United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 686 Global Leader   1 683
Geneva SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 685 Established transnational   1 682
Casablanca MoroccoMorocco Morocco 684 Transnational Specialist   4 664
George Town Cayman IslandsCayman Islands Cayman Islands ( BOT ) 683 Transnational Specialist   7 700
Hamilton BermudaBermuda Bermuda ( BOT ) 680 Evolving Center   6 656
Qingdao China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 679 Global Contender   2 662
Taipei TaiwanRepublic of China (Taiwan) Taiwan 670 Local specialist   2 673
Seoul Korea SouthSouth Korea South Korea 668 Global Leader   6 679
Doha QatarQatar Qatar 662 Transnational Contender   13 617
Amsterdam NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands 657 Transnational Diversified   15 613
Lille FranceFrance France 655 Global Diversified   12 616
Dublin IrelandIreland Ireland 652 Global Leader   6 666
Cape Town South AfricaSouth Africa South Africa 651 Local specialists   k. A. k. A.
Munich GermanyGermany Germany 639 Established transnational   4 660
Kuala Lumpur MalaysiaMalaysia Malaysia 638 Established transnational   0 632
Hamburg GermanyGermany Germany 636 Established player   12 676
Calgary CanadaCanada Canada 635 Transnational Diversified   4 642
Edinburgh United KingdomUnited Kingdom Great Britain 634 Transnational Specialist   0 628
Busan Korea SouthSouth Korea South Korea 631 International Contenders   2 618
Wellington New ZealandNew Zealand New Zealand 630 Local diversified   1 621
Monaco MonacoMonaco Monaco 629 Local specialist   8 604
Saint Helier jerseyjersey Jersey ( CD ) 628 Local specialist   1 637
Bangkok ThailandThailand Thailand 626 Established player   11 634
Port Louis MauritiusMauritius Mauritius 625 Local specialist   13 601
Glasgow United KingdomUnited Kingdom Great Britain 622 Local specialist   1 614
Vienna AustriaAustria Austria 621 Transnational Diversified   13 583
Tallinn EstoniaEstonia Estonia 620 Local specialist   27 559
Madrid SpainSpain Spain 619 Global Diversified   12 631
Brussels BelgiumBelgium Belgium 617 Transnational Diversified   8 592
São Paulo BrazilBrazil Brazil 616 Established player   12 574
Milan ItalyItaly Italy 613 Global Diversified   5 593
Johannesburg South AfricaSouth Africa South Africa 612 Transnational Diversified   5 610
Stockholm SwedenSweden Sweden 611 Local diversified   16 629
Manama BahrainBahrain Bahrain 607 Transnational Specialist   8 612
St. Peter Port guernseyguernsey Guernsey ( CD ) 603 Transnational Contender   7 605
Nur-Sultan KazakhstanKazakhstan Kazakhstan 599 Global specialist   7 548
Mexico city MexicoMexico Mexico 598 Local specialist   8 569
Road Town British Virgin IslandsBritish Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands ( BOT ) 597 Transnational Contender   3 594
Oslo NorwayNorway Norway 596 Established transnational   8 602
Rio de Janeiro BrazilBrazil Brazil 594 Established transnational   1 557
Warsaw PolandPoland Poland 592 Established transnational   21 620
Nassau BahamasBahamas Bahamas 591 Local specialist   8 596
Istanbul TurkeyTurkey Turkey 590 Established transnational   8 562
Riad Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 588 Transnational Specialist   1 573
Lisbon PortugalPortugal Portugal 585 Local diversified   4 564
Budapest HungaryHungary Hungary 584 Local diversified   18 623
Rome ItalyItaly Italy 583 Local diversified   7 579
Vaduz LiechtensteinLiechtenstein Liechtenstein 582 Local specialist   4 570
Prague Czech RepublicCzech Republic Czech Republic 581 Established player   3 567
Gibraltar GibraltarGibraltar Gibraltar ( BOT ) 580 Transnational Specialist   9 576
Jakarta IndonesiaIndonesia Indonesia 579 Local specialist   14 546
Gujarat International Finance Tec-City IndiaIndia India 578 International Contenders   k. A. k. A.
Tianjin China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 577 Evolving Center   15 588
Cheng you China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 576 Transnational Specialist   3 556
St. Petersburg RussiaRussia Russia 575 Local specialist   11 531
Copenhagen DenmarkDenmark Denmark 573 Transnational Diversified   23 599
New Delhi IndiaIndia India 572 Transnational Contender   4 560
Moscow RussiaRussia Russia 571 Global Diversified   0 555
Reykjavík IcelandIceland Iceland 570 Local specialist   9 521
Douglas Isle of ManIsle of Man Isle of Man ( CD ) 568 Transnational Contender   28 600
Manila PhilippinesPhilippines Philippines 566 Local specialist   2 554
Riga LatviaLatvia Latvia 565 Evolving Center   0 551
Valletta MaltaMalta Malta 564 Evolving Center   8 561
Hangzhou China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 563 International Contenders   k. A. k. A.
Panama City PanamaPanama Panama 562 Local specialist   10 558
Nicosia Cyprus RepublicRepublic of Cyprus Cyprus 560 Evolving Centers   19 566
Mumbai IndiaIndia India 558 Local diversified   19 565
Buenos Aires ArgentinaArgentina Argentina 557 Transnational Specialist   18 563
Helsinki FinlandFinland Finland 556 Local diversified   9 553
Baku AzerbaijanAzerbaijan Azerbaijan 555 Evolving Center   0 511
Almaty KazakhstanKazakhstan Kazakhstan 550 Evolving Center   2 519
Sofia BulgariaBulgaria Bulgaria 544 Local specialists   k. A. k. A.
Athens GreeceGreece Greece 518 Local diversified   6 525
Port of Spain Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago 510 Evolving Centers   13 552
Dalian China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 499 Transnational Contender   4 501

More ranking lists

All cities that are listed in at least two of the four rankings and that are also listed in at least two of the four rankings in a place within the top 30 are listed. London and New York City enjoy an outstanding position, they can always be found among the top three financial centers. The Asian financial centers Tokyo and Hong Kong also regularly make it into the top 10 , followed by Singapore , Shanghai and Seoul . In Europe, Paris , Frankfurt am Main , Zurich and Amsterdam are among the leading financial centers. In North America, Chicago , Toronto and Boston regularly follow New York. Sydney is the most important financial center in Australia.

Financial center country
International Financial Centers Development Index (2012) World's most economically powerful cities (2008) Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index (2008) Global Financial Centers Index (2013)
Amsterdam NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands 15th - 10. 45.
Boston United StatesUnited States United States 19th - 21st 07.
Brussels BelgiumBelgium Belgium 23. - 30th 60.
Chicago United StatesUnited States United States 12. 05. 05. 14th
Dubai United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 14th - 44. 25th
Frankfurt am Main GermanyGermany Germany 07. - 08. 09
Geneva SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 16. - 40. 08.
Hong Kong Hong KongHong Kong Hong Kong ( SAR ) 04. 02. 06. 03.
Copenhagen DenmarkDenmark Denmark 20th - 14th 49.
London United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 02. 01. 01. 01.
los Angeles United StatesUnited States United States - 08. 17th -
Luxembourg LuxembourgLuxembourg Luxembourg 26th - - 13.
Munich GermanyGermany Germany 21st - 27. 34.
New York City United StatesUnited States United States 01. 03. 02. 02.
Osaka JapanJapan Japan 38. - 19th 30th
Paris FranceFrance France 05. 07. 07. 29
San Francisco United StatesUnited States United States 17th - 28. 12.
Seoul Korea SouthSouth Korea South Korea 31. 06. 09 10.
Shanghai China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 08. 09 24. 16.
Singapore SingaporeSingapore Singapore 06. - 04. 04.
Stockholm SwedenSweden Sweden 25th - 16. 37.
Sydney AustraliaAustralia Australia 10. - 12. 15th
Tokyo JapanJapan Japan 03. 04. 03. 05.
Toronto CanadaCanada Canada 18th 10. 13. 11.
Vancouver CanadaCanada Canada 24. - 37. 19th
Washington, DC United StatesUnited States United States 09 - 36. 17th
Vienna AustriaAustria Austria 27. - 26th 20th
Zurich SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 11. - 15th 06.

Financial centers in Germany

The financial center Frankfurt am Main has an outstanding position in Germany and is one of the most important financial centers worldwide. Frankfurt's leading position is characterized by the high concentration of companies in the financial sector: In addition to the largest German stock exchange ( Frankfurt Stock Exchange ), the most important major German banks ( Deutsche Bank , Commerzbank , DZ Bank , KfW Bankengruppe , DekaBank ), investment companies (Allianz Global Investors Europe, DWS Investments , Union Investment ) and auditing companies ( PricewaterhouseCoopers or KPMG ), as well as numerous branches of foreign banks and other international financial service providers. Frankfurt is also the seat of the European Central Bank , the Deutsche Bundesbank , the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and the European Insurance Supervisory Authority (EIOPA).

The Munich financial center is one of the world's leading insurance locations , as the industry heavyweights Allianz and Munich Re are based here. Munich is less characterized by financial institutions than by large industrial companies such as BMW , Siemens , MAN , but some important German banks ( HypoVereinsbank , BayernLB ) are also based here.

The financial center of Hamburg is the location in Germany with the greatest density of private banks, the seat of the largest German savings bank ( Hamburger Sparkasse ) as well as a stronghold for special insurance and the seat of important private ( HanseMerkur ) and statutory health insurance companies ( DAK , Techniker ). Historically, Hamburg is also the seat of the oldest stock exchange in Germany , the oldest private bank in Germany ( Berenberg ), the oldest insurer in the world ( Hamburger Feuerkasse ) and the first savings bank in Germany .

The Stuttgart financial center focuses on the areas of SME financing, old-age provision and private capital investments. In addition to the largest German Landesbank ( LBBW ), Stuttgart is home to the largest exchange for securitized derivatives in Europe ( Börse Stuttgart ) and the L-Bank , one of the largest European development banks.

The Düsseldorf financial center is the largest location for financial services in North Rhine-Westphalia and has numerous banks in the private banking sector and is the most important location in Germany for Japanese foreign banks . The largest German state development bank NRW.BANK is also based in Düsseldorf. After all, Düsseldorf is an important location for insurance companies such as the ERGO insurance group , Provinzial Rheinland and ARAG .

See also

literature

  • Merki, Christoph Maria (ed.): Europe's financial centers. History and importance in the 20th century . Frankfurt a. M./New York 2005, ISBN 3-593-37743-8

Individual evidence

  1. Jürgen Krumnow / Ludwig Gramlich / Thomas A. Lange / Thomas M. Dewner (eds.), Gabler Bank-Lexikon: Bank - Börse - Financing , 2002, p. 311
  2. Robert Traba / Bartosz Dziewanowski-Stefanczyk (eds.), Wirtschaftsgeschichte , 2013, p. 199
  3. ^ Report in the FAZ: Index is published by the London-based analysis company Z / Yen Group and the China Development Institute
  4. a b The Global Financial Centers Index 24. Retrieved January 11, 2019 .
  5. Xinhua-Dow Jones International Financial Centers Development Index 2012 (PDF; 2.5 MB)
  6. ^ Forbes World's most economically powerful cities 2008
  7. Mastercard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index 2008 (PDF; 844 kB)
  8. The Global Financial Centers Index 14 ( Memento from September 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 2.2 MB)