This research report for the City of London Corporation examines factors affecting the current and future development of the three leading financial centres in Asia as determined by the City of London's latest Global Financial Competitiveness Index (GFCI 3)1. These centres - Tokyo, Hong Kong SAR and Singapore - all rank in the top 10 of GFCI 3 and demonstrate key competitive advantages over regional rivals. This report explores in detail the dynamics of competition amongst these centres with a view to better anticipating their future development. The report makes extensive use of the findings from semi-structured interviews conducted with senior policymakers, regulators, market actors and commentators working in (or with detailed knowledge of) the region. It also draws on detailed desk research that explores the broader financial, geo-political and policy dynamics that have and will continue to shape Asia's leading financial centres.

Contents include an overview and policy recommendations; case studies which include Australian content; international perspectives; and issues and findings.

3-in-1: Governing a Global Financial Centre provides a comprehensive understanding of Singapore's past development and future success as a global financial centre. It focuses on three transformational processes that have determined the city-state's financial sector development and governance — globalisation, financialisation, and centralisation — and their impacts across three areas: the economy, governance, and technology. More importantly, this book takes a multidimensional approach by considering the inter-related and interdependent nature of these three transformational processes. Just like the 3-in-1 coffee mix that is such an ubiquitous feature of everyday life in Singapore, the individual ingredients of Singapore's success as a global financial centre do not act alone, but as an integrated whole that manifests itself in one final product: the global financial centre.

Asia’s financial systems proved resilient to the shocks from the global financial crisis, and growth since then has been strong. But new challenges have emerged in the region’s economies, including demographics and aging, the need to diversify from bank-dominated systems, urbanization and infrastructure, and the rebalancing of economic activity. This book takes stock of the challenges facing the region today and how economic systems in Asia’s advanced and emerging market economies compare with the rest of the world.

This paper is an excerpt from The Future of Asian Finance. Asia demonstrated remarkable resilience throughout the global financial crisis and its aftermath. But new challenges have emerged in the region's economies. This book provides a comprehensive assessment of the state of Asia's financial sector, the challenges going forward, and the changes that can be expected. It takes stock of how systems in Asia's advanced and emerging market economies compare with the rest of the world and how reforms to develop equity and bond markets have progressed. Chapters discuss how Asian financial systems will evolve in complexity and interconnectedness and what this means for the regional financial centers of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Singapore. Other topics covered in the book include: harnessing the region's demographic dividend to finance infrastructure, the state of economic and financial integration in Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the role of capital flows, how changes to the global regulatory regimes will affect Asian financial systems, and policy responses to address the region's present and future challenges.

'Gateways to Globalisation makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the emerging East Asian regional system of financial centres within the broader global context and how they interact within the global circuits of finance. In particular, it focuses on the emergence of the financial centres of Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore and the attempts by both national governments and the private sector to position them so that they become more competitive in the global and regional context. The volume shows much historical sensitivity showing that while the increase in the importance of these financial centres is principally post 1945, their emergence has been aided by the deep historical roots that go back several centuries. The book will be of great value in the interpretation of the role of East Asia in what many commentators have called the "Asian Century".' – Terry McGee, The University of British Columbia, Canada 'Gateways to Globalisation cogently demonstrates that Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo operate as gateways to Asia and as linchpins for Asia to the global economy. The authors' theoretical frameworks and original empirical research support provocative findings that challenge conventional thinking. Tokyo may decline as a global city. As Beijing and Shanghai ride China's rapid growth they face uncertainty about its future openness to the global economy. Vibrant Hong Kong and Singapore confront challenges from other rising centers.' – David Meyer, Washington University in St Louis, US 'This book distinguishes itself in its emphasis on historical and cultural links as well as contemporary globalization processes on large East Asian cities. Arising from a research program and four seminars, the editor has picked scholars who can relate past and present trends. Historical links of Japanese cities are explored. Leading world cities in the region are analysed in their evolution from entrepôts to modern gateways, service integrators, transport hubs and financial centres. It is a study of the integration and interrelationships of East Asian cities in the global economy.' – Yue-man Yeung, Chinese University of Hong Kong Asia's trading and financial hubs have become global cities which frequently have more in common and closer linkages with each other than with their corresponding hinterlands. As this book expounds, these global cities illustrate to what extent world trends deeply penetrate and permeate the national territorial interiors and processes that were otherwise presumed to be controlled by the State. Gateways to Globalisation is soundly based on accurate and extensive research (including perspectives from historians, economists, geographers and sociologists) from China, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, in order to grasp the regional character of trade and finance, beyond national borders and traditional academic frameworks. The book documents that today, major urban centres such as Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai situated on the periphery of the maritime corridor of East Asia, form a system characterised by the intensity of their economic linkages and integration into the world economy. Since the mid-1980s, these major Asian cities have become the worldwide-oriented centres for production, trade, finance and research. This collective effort offers, in addition to its regional framework, up-to-date information that strengthens an original trans-disciplinary analysis of a region and its economic characteristics, which will be of interest to readers within academia and beyond. This well-detailed and thorough work will interest academics and post-graduate students in economics, geography, finance, history, regional studies and Asian studies, as well as those who have a general interest in globalisation.

As well as marking the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the consequent unleashing of the global financial crisis, 2018 is also the year of negotiations on the terms of the UK's exit from the European Union. Within a decade the banking world has witnessed two epochal events with potential to redraw the map of international financial centres: but how much has this map actually changed since 2008, and how is it likely to change in the near future? International Financial Centres after the Global Financial Crisis and Brexit gathers together leading economic historians, geographers, and other social scientists to focus on the post-2008 developments in key international financial centres. It focuses on the shifting hierarchies of New York, London, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Frankfurt, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo to question whether Asian financial centres have taken advantage of the crisis in the West. It also examines the medium-effects of the crisis, the level of regulation, and the rise of new technology (fintech). By exploring these crucial changes, it questions whether shifts in the financial industry and the global landscape will render these centres unnecessary for the functioning of the global economy, and which cities are likely to emerge as hubs of new financial technology.

This book provides an overview of Hong Kong’s role as an international financial centre, focusing especially on how Hong Kong has contributed significantly, and continues to contribute significantly, to China’s economic development. It considers the importance of Hong Kong’s stock market in raising finance for Chinese companies, explores the potential of Hong Kong as an offshore financial centre, and discusses recent regulatory reforms. It concludes by assessing the prospects for Hong Kong’s continuing success as a global financial centre, and puts forward recommendations for policies which would help secure continuing success.

This book is a history of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development bank established 50 years ago to serve Asia and the Pacific. Focusing on the region’s economic development, the evolution of the international development agenda, and the story of ADB itself, this book raises several key questions: What are the outstanding features of regional development to which ADB had to respond? How has the bank grown and evolved in changing circumstances? How did ADB’s successive leaders promote reforms while preserving continuity with the efforts of their predecessors? ADB has played an important role in the transformation of Asia and the Pacific the past 50 years. As ADB continues to evolve and adapt to the region’s changing development landscape, the experiences highlighted in this book can provide valuable insight on how best to serve Asia and the Pacific in the future.

This book contends that the East Asian financial constitution lacks an appropriate infrastructure, resulting in inefficient allocation of high savings and an over-inflated short-term debt market. It goes on to point out that despite high savings, East Asia's dependency on financial centers outside the region is also relatively high, and that there is no strong region-wide network to connect various financial centers in East Asia. Against this economic background, the contributors make recommendations for the establishment of effective and stable capital recycling in East Asia. The financial intermediary function of the regional financial centers - Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo - is evaluated. Discussion focusses on the issues of building an organic network between the financial markets of major economies in the region and enhancing the future role and function of those regional financial centres. The policy implications of the future development of regional financial markets - based on regional financial networks - that could potentially act as intermediaries between the high savings and productive sectors in East Asia are also examined. Concentrating on the major issues identified as central to building a new financial market structure in East Asia, this book will be appeal to those with a special interest in Asian studies and financial economics.