Dublin has again slipped down the rankings of international financial centres, and is languishing behind Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Paris, all close competitors in the race for post-Brexit business.
According to the latest edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), which rates 96 financial centres, Dublin has fallen back one spot to 31st in the latest index, far off the top ten highs reached back in 2009. However, it is a significant improvement on 2014, when it plummeted to 70th position.
Dublin also joins Shanghai, Beijing and Luxembourg as one of the “15 centres likely to become more significant”, while it is also recognised as a “global leader” for the first time, alongside London, New York and Paris. Luxembourg on the other hand is seen as a “global specialist”.
When just western European financial centres are considered Dublin ranks in eighth place, ahead of Madrid, Stockholm and Edinburgh.
While the much publicised flood of businesses exiting London and the UK in the wake of Brexit has largely failed to yet materialise, there have been some business wins for Dublin and other European centres. Companies expanding in Dublin include Barclays Bank and JP Morgan, and IDA figures suggest that some 2,500 jobs have been created in Ireland since the Brexit vote.
On Monday, Brian Hayes MEP said that he expects more relocations will be announced over the next year as the UK moves closer to exiting the EU.
“Banks and financial services firms are very keen to establish that foothold in the EU single market and Ireland provides a perfect gateway,” he said, adding that Ireland’s “subtle approach to attracting investment” will prove to be best strategy.
Other centres however have also attracted high profile names, with Luxembourg for example, attracting US insurer AIG, and US banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley opting for Frankfurt.
Overall, the GFICI survey shows that London remains at the top of the table, followed closely by New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.
However, the report says that the uncertainty created by Brexit has influenced London based respondents, who are significantly less confident about London’s future than respondents from Paris and Frankfurt feel about their home centres.
This year Astana, Baku, New Delhi and Tianjin joined the survey for the first time.
