What future for financial centres ?

Competition among financial centres has intensified recently, particularly in Europe as a result of monetary union and the creation of an integrated financial service market.

Today we have to answer two main questions :

• what are the main factors of financial centres in this new environment ?
• is the notion of financial centres still relevant with the advent of the internet, electronic markets, and the new development in information technology ?

This issue of the Revue d'économie financière, which is published in English for the first time try and answer the topic. The key players of paris financial centre have contributed to this issue.

Aside from the complex technical and industrial issues the this edition cannot hope to cover exhaustively, the following three simple conclusions can be drawn. The first, which is not specific to financial activities, applies to intermediaries as much as the markets themselves. In a constantly changing environment, the ability to anticipate and act is vital in order to prevent competitors from locking up the market. In this regard, the creation of Euronext has demonstrated Paris's ability to take the initiative. The second conclusion challenges some of the preconceptions about the so-called new economy by asserting that traditional elements of competitiveness are still vital to the choice of location.

Technical excellence, liquidity and the quality of human capital are all criteria fulfilled by Paris, making it one of the best financial centres in the world. Thirdly, the prime competitive factor at present, and one that is becoming increasingly important, is the quality of the regulatory and tax framework. The main issue facing the public authorities in the next few years will be to ensure that the euro market uses these advantages to the full.