Hong Kong Tops Survey of Financial System Strength

Posted December 14th, 2011 at 5:15 am (UTC-5)
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Hong Kong has become the first Asian financial center to top an annual survey of the world’s most developed financial systems.

The World Economic Forum released its annual report on Tuesday. The report says Hong Kong’s rank was bolstered by strong scores in the non-banking financial services such as initial public offerings and insurance.

It is the first time the United States or Britain have not ranked number one since the Geneva-based non-governmental organization began the survey four years ago.

The United States fell to number two, but maintained its overall score. Britain slipped to number three with a drop in its overall score due to a decline in initial public offerings activity and securitization .

World Economic Forum officials say this report should serve as a “wake-up call” to Western financial centers that “their long-term leadership may be in jeopardy.”

Hong Kong jumped three spots to take the lead, while Singapore, Australia and Japan maintained their top ten rankings. Several other Asian countries, including South Korea, also jumped in the ranking of the world’s top 60 financial systems.