The Isle of Man is also the highest ranked of seven ‘new’ financial centres appearing for the first time in this GFCI report, and third in the British Isles after London and Dublin.

The GFCI 2 report for September 2007 ranks financial centres based on external benchmarking data and current views of competitiveness. Factors of competitiveness are grouped into five key areas – People; the Business Environment; Market Access; Infrastructure and General Competitiveness.

Treasury Minister, Hon. Allan Bell MHK commented: “We are delighted to have been awarded this ranking by The City of London. Not only is it a reflection of our close business ties with London, it is also an excellent endorsement of the Isle of Man’s reputation as the leading offshore financial centre. Our inclusion and ranking in the report are a clear indication of the success of the Isle of Man’s strategy to both maintain and extend the Island’s competitive edge by encouraging inward investment and economic growth.”

“On the Isle of Man we pride ourselves on being a fully cooperative and responsible jurisdiction with a well regulated economy in line with international standards. As such we are pleased to see the GFCI 2 report identify regulatory issues as the single most important area of competitiveness.”

The GFCI research is conducted by the Z/Yen Group Limited for the City of London Corporation. It uses additional data from PricewaterhouseCoopers and a survey of the industry to develop an index of competitiveness for 50 world financial centres, charting how they rate relative to each other. The index brings together the results of online surveys completed by financial services leaders and 54 separate indices of competitiveness. The GFCI was first published in March 2007 (GFCI 1) and is designed to extend the City of London’s research by providing an ongoing rating system for financial centres worldwide. The GIFC 2 report was released by The City of London on 1st October 2007.