Hong Kong has muscled its way to the top of the World Economic Forum's Financial Stability Index, overtaking the United States and the United Kingdom for the first time, according to a report published on Tuesday. The United States slipped to second place in the ranking of the world's leading financial systems and capital markets, although its overall score was unchanged from last year.
---- Report analyses 60 countries, Nigeria comes last
---- United States, UK in second and third place
The United Kingdom fell to third place due to lower scores on securitisation and IPO activity, the Financial Development Report said. The report, launched in 2008, analyses financial development including the efficiency and size of banking and other financial services, the business environment, financial stability, and the extent of financial disclosure and market liberalisation in each centre. Hong Kong, which jumped from fourth place last year, has capitalised on a regulatory crackdown on the finance sector in the United States and Europe and on its proximity to China to lure more financial services to its shores.
"Hong Kong's ascent to the top of our index marks a major milestone, the first time in the report's history that the United Kingdom or the US didn't come out on top," said Kevin Steinberg, chief operating officer of the World Economic Forum (WEF) USA. Singapore was ranked fourth, followed by Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Japan respectively. Nigeria was bottom of the list with Venezuela not far behind.
China rose three places from last year to 19th whereas eurozone countries slipped in the rankings as they struggled to contain their debt crisis, including Germany, which dropped one place to 14th. More than 90 percent of countries have not returned to pre-crisis levels in terms of ease of access to credit and loans, venture capital availability and financing through local equity markets, according to the latest report. The Financial Development Report ranks 60 countries, analysing drivers of financial system and capital market development that support economic growth.