Jersey retains its position as the top ranked offshore finance centre

In a welcome boost to the Island in what has been a challenging few weeks, the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) sees Jersey retain its position as the highest rated offshore international finance centre.

The GFCI is a ranking of the competitiveness of financial centres based on over 26,000 assessments from online questionnaires.  It is compiled by Z/Yen Group and published twice a year by the City of London  Corporation.

The ranking is an aggregate of indices of five key areas: people (availability of a skilled workforce, the flexibility of the labour market, the quality of the business education and the skill-set  of the workforce), business environment (regulation, tax rates, levels of corruption, economic freedom and how difficult in general it is to do business), market access (volume and value of trading), infrastructure (the price of real estate), and general competitiveness (price, quality of life and economic sentiment).

In the overall rankings, Jersey’s score increased slightly and it retains its previous position of 21st in the world, ahead of Guernsey in 31st, Cayman Islands in 40^th, the Isle of Man in 44th, and BVI in 45th.


In the rankings of industry sectors, Jersey is the only offshore jurisdiction to feature and is ranked eighth in the global top ten for private banking and wealth management, just below Zurich and Toronto.


Jersey is also included at number 18 in the table that measures reputation, the only offshore jurisdiction to appear in the top twenty for its reputational advantage.


Geoff Cook, chief executive of Jersey Finance Limited, commented:


“For six editions of the GFCI in a row Jersey has been ranked as the highest rated of the offshore jurisdictions and we continue to hold a higher ranking than onshore competitors such as Luxembourg and Dublin. This is hugely encouraging and helps reinforce our standing and reputation for financial services globally. Alongside Jersey’s consistent success as the number one centre amongst competitor jurisdictions within the Index, it is also significant that the authors of the report have concluded that the reputation of offshore centres is continuing to improve.”


The report shows that the offshore centres are now rebuilding their reputations after suffering damage during the global economic crisis, with most increasing their scores since the previous report.


Overall in the report, London continues to be the number one centre globally, ahead of New York, though the report does sound a few warning notes for the City – in particular wanting that the increasing regulatory burden, the recommendations of the Vickers report and the proposed financial transaction tax could prove potentially damaging to the City’s competitiveness. Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo take the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th places.