Financial centre

A financial centre is a location that is home to a cluster of nationally or internationally significant financial services providers such as banks, investment managers or . A prominent financial centre can be described as an international financial centre (IFC) or a global financial centre and is often also a global city. Regional and national financial centres interact with these leading centres and may act as business feeders or provide local access to them. An offshore financial centre (OFC) is typically a smaller, lower-tax, more lightly regulated jurisdiction that primarily serves non-residents. In a number of large cities, the name International Financial Centre is given to skyscrapers located in business districts, for example the landmark, International Finance Centre in Hong Kong.

Financial centres are locations with an agglomeration of participants in financial markets and venues for these activities to take place. Participants can include financial intermediaries (such as banks, brokers, asset management funds), institutional investors (such as investment managers), as well as central banks. Trading activity takes place on venues such as exchanges and involve clearing houses, although many transactions take place over-the-counter (OTC), that is directly between participants. Financial centres usually host companies that offer a wide range of financial advisory services, for example relating to mergers and acquisitions, or which participate in other areas of finance, such as private equity and reinsurance.

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