International Financial Centres in Europe and Asia, 1900–2000

This chapter is a first attempt at looking at international financial centres in Europe and Asia during the twentieth century. It has three main objectives. First, to identify the main financial centres in Europe and Asia based on their type of activities and degree of international influence. Second, to compare the changing nature of emerging and established financial centres during the twentieth century. And third, to consider the position of European and Asian financial centres within a global context, with reference, in particular, to the shifting centre of gravity of international finance. After providing some definitions of international financial centres, the chapter takes a snapshot of their position at two moments in the twentieth century: before 1914 and at the turn of the twentieth century in section three. It concludes with some broader reflections on the emergence, rise, decline and fall of international financial centres, suggesting that despite the shift in the balance of power towards the East, an increasingly multipolar financial world is likely to emerge in the medium term.