| Abstract: | If its prospects were doubted in the early 1990s, London isnow the pre-eminent international financial centre. It dominatesits European rivals and is joined with New York and Tokyo ina non-stop reciprocal global embrace. Whereas some analystsapproach this topic concentrating on the nature and qualityof market relationships in London, others emphasise the rolethat government regulation has played in promoting the growthof the City of London with respect to its European rivals. Here,I elaborate the logic whereby financial products and servicesare produced at a particular point in space even if financialtrading is an increasingly ubiquitous virtual activity. I emphasisethe competitive dynamics of the financial services industry,the complementary qualities of financial products, and the placeof London in corporate global transactions systems. I mean toshow that the production of financial products has been broughtto ground (so to speak) in London for a variety of (perhapsnon-replicable) reasons. In this regard, my argument is clearlyat odds with those analysts of information and communicationtechnology who proclaim the end of geography. However, my argumentsits uncomfortably with those who insist upon the persistenceand co-existence of different national financial systems. Implicationsare drawn for the role of London in the evolving integratedEuropean market for financial services, and for the future ofcontinental European financial centres. |
