FinTech Australia welcomes strong performance by Sydney and Melbourne in latest Global Financial Centres Index

FinTech Australia has welcomed the strong performance by Sydney and Melbourne in the latest Global Financial Centres Index, with Sydney now being named as a global leader and Melbourne jumping eight ranking spots.

Published every six months, the index measures the attractiveness of 108 financial centres. It analyses research by major international organisations such as the World Bank and United Nations alongside thousands of survey responses.

Sydney held its position at number eight in the world. For the first time, it has now been named as a Global Leader alongside 14 other centres because of its broad and deep financial services activities and connections with many other financial centres.

Sydney was seen as highly competitive for its business environment and reputation. It was also seen as particularly strong in wealth investment and insurance.

Melbourne has had a spectacular increase in its ranking from 21 to 13 and has now been named an Established International centre (it was previously known as an International Diversified centre).

In making this jump, Melbourne has leap-frogged other financial centres previously ahead of it on the list including Geneva, Washington DC, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Luxembourg and Osaka.

FinTech Australia CEO Danielle Szetho said: The improved result for Melbourne clearly validates the hard work being undertaken by industry members and the Victorian Government to grow Melbourne as a fintech and financial services destination.

We have recognised Melbournes growing status as a fintech hub by using it as the base of our inaugural Australian fintech festival, Intersekt, in late October and early November this year.

"Intersekt will include our national summit Collab/Collide 2017 - this is the second year we have held it in Melbourne.

Sydneys recognition as a Global Leader is also well deserved and long overdue. It is fantastic to see this recognition as being among the worlds greatest financial centres.

Overall, the latest Global Financial Centres Index paints a positive picture about the health of Australias two largest financial services centres, and is very encouraging news for the growth of our thriving fintech industry, which utilises these centres.

We also know however that there is considerable fintech activity underway in our other State capitals including Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, and we are looking forward to these cities making their debut soon on the index.

In terms of worldwide trends identified in this report:

• Despite the ongoing Brexit negotiations, London only fell two points, the smallest decline in the top ten centres.

• The historical dominance of the leading centres in Western Europe and North America is continuing to erode, with the average assessment of the top five financial centres in the Asia/Pacific region now ahead of the comparable figure for Western Europe and North America.

  Main ranking table below from Global Financial Centres Index Report 22