Singapore edges ahead of HK as No. 3 financial center

Singapore edged past Hong Kong as the world’s No. 3 financial center, according to a survey by London-based research firm Z/Yen Group.
The Southeast Asian city-state ranks behind London and New York, and two points ahead of Hong Kong on the Global Financial Centres Index, published April 6 on the firm’s website. The index, which has a scale of 1,000 points, is based on surveys of 2,520 financial-services professionals, according to the press release.
The ranking reflects key competitive areas including business environment, financial sector development and infrastructure of the 86 hubs around the world covered by the survey.
Tokyo ranks fifth and Zurich sixth in the results. Z/Yen Group first published the survey in March 2007, according to its website.
According to the most recent official data, Singapore lagged behind Hong Kong in terms of total assets under management. Assets held by Singapore’s fund management industry climbed 30 percent to SGD2.36 trillion (USD1.75 trillion) in 2014, the latest figure available, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Hong Kong’s combined fund assets amounted to a record HKD17.7 trillion ($2.3 trillion) in that year, according to the city’s Securities and Futures Commission. Chanyaporn Chanjaroen, Bloomberg