By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) – New York easily kept the top spot in the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), while London held on to second place as Chinese cities slipped, according to the ranking published on Friday.

London will find the index, which was created by Z/Yen Group, in collaboration with China Development Institute, a welcome relief after Britain left the European Union’s financial markets last December.

“The relative strong performances of New York City and London suggest that these financial services sectors managed to continue their performance despite significant changes in working methods during the last 18 month,” GFCI reported in a statement.

Both Hong Kong and Singapore, which were in third and fourth place respectively, dropped 25 points.

“We see two patterns in the results for GFCI 30 – confidence in the recovery of the North American and Western European economies following the shock of 2020; and a levelling off following the rapid rise of Asia/Pacific centres and their economic stability in the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Michael Mainelli, executive chairman of Z/Yen.

The competition is fierce. The centres that rank third through eighth on a 1000 point scale are separated by only five points.

Only five points separate the top three fintech hubs from those ranked third to eighth on a 1000 point scale. New York retained their first and second places, while Shanghai remained in second place. London moved up two spots to third as Britain prioritizes fintech-friendly policy.

(Graphic: GFCI September 2021 rankings – https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/dwvkrdllapm/GFCI%20rankings%20in%20September%202021.PNG)