London pride

London has, at least temporarily, defied fears that the City will become less attractive for financiers in the wake of Brexit, said the FT. The City has retained its place as the “world’s top financial centre”, according to the Z/ Yen Global Financial Centres Index, which ranks 92 financial centres globally. “Interestingly, despite the ongoing Brexit negotiations, London only fell two points, the smallest decline in the top ten,” noted the report. That means it extended its lead over New York and also left top EU centres in the dust. Both Frankfurt and Dublin’s scores rose this year: Frankfurt’s by a credible 12 points. But they are still ranked at 11 and 33.

Talk to any bank chief about Brexit “and the conversation quickly turns to the practical difficulty of persuading senior employees to move to Frankfurt”, said Nils Pratley in The Guardian. As the RBS chairman Sir Howard Davies observes, it’s often because they “don’t like the schools”. True believers in the City’s post-brexit future might count this as “another demonstration of London’s superiority” in matters beyond financial. “But if the biggest concern is education, London needs to watch out.” As Davies suggests, “a shortage of overpriced schools for the offspring of overpaid bankers sounds like a problem the market can fix”. His tip: invest in any company planning to open international schools in Frankfurt.