London as a financial centre

London is the banking centre of the world and Europe’s main business centre.

The headquarters of more than 100 of Europe’s 500 largest companies are in London. A quarter of the of the world’s largest financial companies have their European headquarters in London too.

The London foreign exchange market is the largest in the world, with an average daily turnover of $504 billion, more than the New York and Tokyo combined.

Along with The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development there are more than 550 international banks and 170 global securities houses have set up offices in London. By contrast Frankfurt has around 280, Paris, 270 and New York 250.

Bank of England

The Bank of England, based in the City on Threadneedle Street, is the Government's banker and is also the banker to the banking system more generally - the bankers' bank. From their website you can learn about the Bank's relationship with the markets, banknotes, the Euro, monetary policy, the UK's foreign exchange and gold reserves.

The Bank of England's Centre for Central Banking Studies conducts seminars and provides expert advice for central banks throughout the world. The bank also has a free museum with a complete history of the Bank including the changes in notes of currency and you can feel the weight of a bullion gold bar. The Museum offers a variety of talks and presentations for groups of visitors.

Regulation

The Bank of England used to regulate the financial markets before the government launched the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to take control of financial regulation. The FSA is an independent non-governmental body which was given its full powers in 2001.

The FSA aims to help consumers become better informed about financial matters

The British Bankers' Association (BBA), the leading trade association in the UK banking and financial services industry, is based in London. Its members, as well as many associate members, fund its not-for-profit activities.

Trading

London is the biggest market in the world for derivatives traded over-the-counter with 36 per cent of global turnover. The capital is the world’s largest fund management centre, managing almost half of Europe’s institutional equity capital worth $5,500 billion. More than half (56 per cent) of the global foreign equity market and seventy per cent of Eurobonds are traded in London.

The most international of all stock exchanges, the London Stock Exchange has built on more than 200 years of integrity, expertise and market knowledge to become one of the world's foremost equity exchanges. Investors the world over trust the London Stock Exchange to deliver well-regulated, high quality markets.

The London Stock Exchange operates in four core areas:

Equity markets - they enable companies from around the world to raise the capital they need to grow, by listing securities on their highly-efficient, transparent and well-regulated markets. They do this through their two primary markets – the Main Market and AIM (Alternative Investment Market). AIM is the London Stock Exchanges' market for small, young and growing companies.
Trading services - they provide the trading platforms used by broking firms around the world to buy and sell securities in equity, bond and derivative markets. More than 300 firms worldwide trade as members of the London Stock Exchange.
Market information - they supply high-quality, real-time prices, news and other information to the global financial community.
Derivatives - their derivatives business is a pioneering diversification beyond their core equity markets. EDX London is their international equity derivatives.

The London Stock Exchange, like the Bank of England, transferred its role as regulator to the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Euronext.liffe is the world’s leading exchange for euro short-term interest rate derivatives and equity options. The Exchange (formerly the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange) is the international derivatives business of Euronext, comprising the Amsterdam, Brussels, LIFFE, Lisbon and Paris derivatives markets.

The London Metal Exchange (LME) is the world centre for non-ferrous (non-iron) metal trading, providing the global forum for all those who wish to manage the risk of future price movements in non-ferrous metals.

Insurance

London is the world’s largest international insurance market with gross premium income of £24.6 billion in 2002.

Lloyd's of London is the world's leading insurance market providing specialist insurance services to businesses in over 189 countries. At the beginning of 2004, 66 syndicates were underwriting insurance at Lloyd's, with a capacity to accept insurance premiums of £14.9 billion.

The International Underwriting Association of London (IUA) is the world's largest representative organisation for wholesale insurance and reinsurance companies.

Maritime centre

London is the world's principal centre for a wide variety of maritime industries and rivals centres such as Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and Athens. The sector contributes around £1bn each year to Britain's invisible earnings.

Many international shipping organisations have their headquarters in London, including the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

The Baltic Exchange is the only established and self-regulated global market place for shipbrokers. It provides an online exchange for ships and cargoes, real time freight derivative trading and freight market data.

Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit provides immediate business critical information and serves the needs of the global shipping market by supplying a source of shipping data from any world-wide location.

Business & jobs

Freedom of information

Top of page