National and Global Islamic Financial Architecture:
Problems and Possible Solutions for the OIC Member Countries
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Table ‎5.4: Ranking of Global Financial Centers
Global Financial Centres Ranking
London 1
Frankfurt 14
Munich 40
Luxembourg 19
Singapore 4
Hong Kong 3
Source: GFCI (2015)
The only remaining centres in the relevant countries quoted in the report were Glasgow (70)
and Edinburgh (71). The Index also assigns profiles to each centre, based on how well
connected a centre is, how broad its services are and how specialised it is. London, Frankfurt,
Singapore and Hong Kong are all placed in the “global leaders” category, having both breadth
and depth45 and being globally connected. Luxembourg is classed as a “global specialist”,
lacking the breadth of these four, and Munich is classed as “transnational diversified”.
Putting these pieces of evidence together, the following picture emerges:
The UK is, by any measure and on any criteria, a major global financial centre, with
international activity very much dominated by London. It is strong across the board, in
banking, capital markets and insurance, and has a strong professional services sector46 . A
number of major financial institutions are domiciled there, and it is the principal European
base for others. Its stock exchange is the largest outside the USA by market capitalisation, and
all sectors of business have strong global presences.
For Germany, Frankfurt and Munich taken together are also globally powerful but primarily in
banking and insurance; the capital markets activity, though very substantial in itself, has a less
international focus than in London. In the case of Germany, the international presence through
local operations of German-headquartered companies is at least as significant as the
international activity in that market.
Luxembourg has a large financial sector in relation to its size but a modest one overall. It has
specialised in capital markets and, in particular, acts as a fund domicile, an activity in which it
has a major global position.
Singapore and Hong Kong are both globally important centres with large financial sectors in
relation to their size. Hong Kong has much the more significant exchange; Singapore is a
somewhat more of a significant insurance centre and also the major currency trading centre of
Asia. Both are extremely strong as regional centres for global businesses and, in the case of
Hong Kong, for mainland Chinese companies seeking access to wider markets. Their financial
sectors thus tend to be dominated by companies domiciled elsewhere.
5.2. Approaches to Islamic Finance
There are two different dimensions of an approach to Islamic finance which are relevant to this
analysis.
45 “Breadth” refers to the diversity of financial services sectors that flourish in a given sector; “depth” to the strength of the
investment management, banking, insurance, professional services and government and regulatory sectors. See page 11 of
GFCI (2015) for full definitions.
46 The GFCI (2015) also quotes ratings on professional services, but for the top centres in this category only.