Hong Kong rated Asia’s top financial hub for fourth straight year: reportHong Kong has retained its status as Asia’s top financial hub for a fourth consecutive edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), even as many of the world’s leading centres saw their scores slip slightly amid rising geopolitical headwinds.The city also ranked third globally in the 40th edition of the twice-yearly report, released on Wednesday amid a remarkably tight race at the top of global finance.Hong Kong scored 756, just one point behind London and a point ahead of Singapore. New York topped the index at 761.All four centres recorded lower scores than in the March edition as the conflict in the Middle East overshadowed much of the latest survey period. The index is compiled by Z/Yen Group and the China Development Institute (CDI).Across the index’s five main categories – business environment, human capital, infrastructure, financial sector development and reputation – Hong Kong placed ahead of London, ranking first globally for financial sector development.Hong Kong also topped the report’s separate fintech ranking, a position it has now held for several consecutive editions of the report, and led the breakdowns for investment management, insurance and the wider finance sector.“Behind those numbers lies deepening connectivity with the mainland through the Stock, Bond and Wealth Management Connect scheme,” said Yu Peng, a senior researcher at CDI.He said the city remained the world’s premier offshore renminbi centre – handling 70 to 80 per cent of global clearing – and the top cross-border wealth management hub, with total assets under management touching US$2.95 trillion at the end of 2025.The ranking stands as Hong Kong’s stock exchange rides a rebound in initial public offerings. Hong Kong led the world in IPO fundraising last year and trailed only the Nasdaq in the first half of 2026, driven by a wave of listings by mainland Chinese technology companies.The report arrived as Hong Kong rolled out its first-ever five-year blueprint for financial development. The strategy outlines “five major objectives”, including seeking new grounds for economic development and boosting Hong Kong’s international competitiveness.The road map aligns Hong Kong’s financial trajectory with Beijing’s 15th five-year plan, giving the city “an unusually specific mandate” to strengthen its status as an international financial centre while expanding its offshore yuan, asset management and commodity trading sectors, Yu said.Beijing supported this framework in July with a fresh package of financial measures, expanding the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s renminbi funding facility to 500 billion yuan (US$74.54 billion) while raising the annual investment quota for the Southbound Bond Connect scheme from 500 billion yuan to 800 billion yuan.Other Asian financial centres also posted strong results in the GFCI report. Shanghai overtook San Francisco to reach fifth place as its rating rose 11 points – the only gain among the world’s top five centres this round.Shenzhen also advanced, rising one place to eighth – a climb Yu linked to its deepening technology-finance ecosystem and the Qianhai cooperation platform with Hong Kong.Asia-Pacific hubs now account for six of the global top 10 in the index. Tokyo posted the sharpest rise, climbing four places to sixth, while Seoul moved up one place to seventh.The Asia-Pacific region also saw its average financial rating climb 1.48 per cent, the highest rise recorded for any region and well above the average global gain of 0.8 per cent, the report noted.Despite the broad-based strength, the margins at the top remain thin. “Leadership in this index is contestable and it has to be defended,” Yu said.https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3367656/hong-kong-rated-asias-top-financial-hub-4th-straight-year-report?pgtype=live (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post