Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 22, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleLondon remains the top global financial centre for the sixth year, despite challenges like slow internet speeds and competition from New York.
LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - London remains the world's top financial centre ahead of New York, the City of London Corporation's annual survey based on public data showed on Thursday, while Singapore again came in third.
London retained the top spot for the sixth year in the survey of 102 metrics, which benchmarked global financial centres in five categories such as regulatory environment, talent and skills, and business infrastructure.
Its lead was based on consistency across those categories rather than being the best in any of them.
The British financial hub's internet speeds, however, were the slowest among the seven global financial centres included in the survey, the report showed, which could undermine its efforts to develop in artificial intelligence and technology.
London's status as a global finance hub has come under increasing scrutiny over the past two years, following a slowdown in public listings as a result of companies concerned about valuation levels choosing mainland Europe and the U.S. instead.
The city's number one ranking is also disputed, with New York ranking first and London second in London-based think tank Z/Yen's most recent Global Financial Centres Index based on 140 metrics.
(Reporting by Lawrence WhiteEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
A financial centre is a location where a large concentration of financial institutions and services are located, facilitating banking, investment, and trading activities.
The London Stock Exchange is one of the world's oldest and largest stock exchanges, providing a platform for companies to raise capital and for investors to trade shares.
Survey metrics in finance are quantitative measures used to evaluate and compare the performance and characteristics of financial centres based on various criteria.
Talent and skills in finance refer to the expertise and competencies of professionals in the financial sector, essential for driving innovation and maintaining competitiveness.
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