London overtaken by New York as world's top financial hub

London has been overtaken by New York at the top of a long-running ranking of the top global financial centres, with Brexit uncertainty pulling the city off the top-spot for the first time in three years.

The 24th edition of Z/Yen’s Global Financial Centres Index saw London come in second place but noted that New York only led the pack by two points on a scale of 1,000, with Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai Tokyo, Sydney, Beijing, Zurich and Frankfurt hot on the heels of the top two.

Z/Yen chairman Michael Mainelli urged people not to read into the result of the new index too much and said that London would "probably" retake the top spot soon.

Michael Mainelli, Z/Yen chairman, said: "Far too much attention is focused on the top centres and the blow-by-blow rankings they have. The long-term trend since our first published edition in 2007 has been the consistent and persistent rise of Asian centres while the press and pundits focus on brief headlines about London and New York City."

The index is compiled using data from the World Bank, The Economist Intelligence Unit, the OECD and the United Nations as well as responses to an online questionnaire to organise 96 cities into a league table.

European cities such as Zurich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Vienna and Milan all moved up in the rankings, possibly benefiting from Brexit uncertainty according to the report.

These and other European cities are all likely to attract new business from companies leaving London in the wake of Britain’s exit from the EU.