Lion City stays ahead of HK in financial hub race

Hong Kong ranked behind Singapore as the fourth most important financial center for the second year running, according to the latest rankings from the Global Financial Centres Index.

New York and London took the top two positions, according to the GFCI 33, published by Z/Yen and the City of London.

While Shanghai maintained its position in the top 10 for fintech, Singapore and Washington pushed Beijing and Hong Kong out of the top 10 spots.

However, a government spokesman pointed out that Hong Kong's rankings in business environment, infrastructure, financial sector development and reputation rose two places from the previous issue of the ranking, highlighting its strengths as a global financial hub.

Additionally, industry practitioners based in the city "were the most confident about the future competitiveness of Hong Kong as an international financial center," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, 61 percent of mainlanders believe Hong Kong's premier shopping experiences and services have been met or surpassed by many other Asian cities at a time when the luxury market is recovering, a survey by Ruder Finn found.

Ruder Finn, together with the Consumer Search Group, surveyed 2,000 respondents in mainland China and 500 in Hong Kong between December and January.

In other news, Midland anticipates that about 8,000 cases will be recorded for the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme this year and proposes that the government should reimburse stamp duties to immigrants after they acquire permanent identities.

Separately, about 74 percent of executives in Hong Kong anticipate a salary increase with their current employers, while 57 percent expect a salary increase of at least 20 percent to switch jobs, according to a survey conducted by KPMG.

With the border reopening, respondents in the consumer markets sector express a higher likelihood of hiring, whereas those in the financial services and real estate sectors are less optimistic about hiring more personnel.

"There's obviously some short-term volatility among some of the financial institutions around hiring in Hong Kong - but even that varies from one institution to the next. It's too early to claim any sort of long-term trend," said Bing Li, head of APAC, Bloomberg.