London

===City of London===

[[File:Paternoster Square.jpg|thumb|The [[London Stock Exchange]] at [[Paternoster Square]] and [[Temple Bar, London|Temple Bar]]]]
[[File:Fotografi av Royal Exchange. London, England - Hallwylska museet - 105857.tif|thumb|The [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]] in 1886]]

London's finance industry is based in the [[City of London]] and [[Canary Wharf]], the two major [[Central business district|business districts]]. London is one of the pre-eminent [[financial centre]]s of the world as the most important location for international finance.<ref name="economist1">{{Cite news |date=29 November 2007 |title=The City of London's tumble – After the fall |newspaper=The Economist |location= London |url= https://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_TDNDRPTT |url-status=dead |access-date=15 May 2009 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20121208172611/http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_TDNDRPTT |archive-date=8 December 2012}}</ref> London took over as a major financial centre shortly after 1795 when the Dutch Republic collapsed before the Napoleonic armies. This caused many bankers established in [[Amsterdam]] (e.g. Hope, Baring  I'm), to move to London. Also, London's market-centred system (as opposed to the bank-centred one in Amsterdam) grew more dominant in the 18th century.<ref name='Finance Hub'/> The London financial elite was strengthened by a strong Jewish community from all over Europe capable of mastering the most sophisticated financial tools of the time.<ref name="auto2"/> This economic strength of the city was attributed to its diversity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/34/2/6.html|title=Letter VI – On the Presbyterians. Letters on the English.|last=Voltaire|first=François Marie Arouet de.|date=1909–1914|website=Bartleby.com|publisher=The Harvard Classics|orig-year=1734|access-date=22 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Origin of Religious Tolerance: Voltaire |url=https://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=2095 |access-date=28 June 2023 |work=Independent Institute}}</ref>
[[File:London.bankofengland.arp.jpg|thumb|The [[Bank of England]], established in 1694, is the model on which most modern central banks are based.]]
By the mid-19th century, London was the leading financial centre, and at the end of the century over half the world's trade was financed in British currency.<ref>{{cite news |title=London - Finance |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/London/Finance |access-date=4 July 2022 |work=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref> Still, {{as of|2016|lc=y}} London tops the world rankings on the [[Global Financial Centres Index]] (GFCI),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.longfinance.net/images/gfci/20/GFCI20_26Sep2016.pdf |title=The Global Financial Centres Index 20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928122804/http://www.longfinance.net/images/gfci/20/GFCI20_26Sep2016.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2017 |url-status=dead |access-date=8 August 2019}}</ref> and it ranked second in A.T. Kearney's 2018 Global Cities Index.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Hales |first1=Mike |last2=Mendoza Peña |first2=Andrés |last3=Peterson |first3=Erik R.|last4=Dessibourg |first4=Nicole |title=2018 Global Cities Report – Learning from the East: Insights from China's Urban Success|url=https://atkearney.com/2018-global-cities-report |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620232225/https://www.atkearney.com/2018-global-cities-report |archive-date=20 June 2018 |access-date=20 June 2018 |website=[[A.T. Kearney]]}}</ref>

London's largest industry is finance, and its [[financial export]]s make it a large contributor to the UK's [[balance of payments]]. Notwithstanding a post-[[Brexit]] exodus of stock listings from the [[London Stock Exchange]],<ref name=LSEExodus>{{cite news |url= https://fortune.com/2023/10/31/uk-stock-market-doom-loop-london-financial-capital/amp/ |title=UK's stock market is in a 'doom loop' that's undermining London's status as a global financial capital, investment bank says |author=Alexandra Muller and [[Bloomberg News]] |work=Fortune |location=New York |date=31 October 2023|access-date=20 February 2024}}</ref> London is still one of Europe's most economically powerful cities,<ref name="London.gov.uk"/> and it remains one of the [[Global Financial Centres Index|major financial centres of the world]]. It is the world's biggest currency trading centre, accounting for some 37 per cent of the $5.1&nbsp;trillion average daily volume, according to the BIS.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 September 2016 |title=London's core role in euros under spotlight after Brexit vote |work=[[Reuters]] |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets-bis-britain-idUKKCN11O0C4 |access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref> Over 85 per cent (3.2&nbsp;million) of the employed population of greater London works in the services industries. Because of its prominent global role, London's economy had been affected by the [[financial crisis of 2007–2008]]. However, by 2010 the city had recovered, put in place new regulatory powers, proceeded to regain lost ground and re-established London's economic dominance.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gardiner |first=Beth |date=20 January 2010 |title=The London Banking Center Is Beginning to Feel Like Itself Again. |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/business/global/21rglofinuk.html |url-status=live |access-date=28 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125173353/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/business/global/21rglofinuk.html |archive-date=25 January 2010}}</ref> Along with [[professional services]] headquarters, the City of London is home to the [[Bank of England]], [[London Stock Exchange]], and [[Lloyd's of London]] insurance market.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mantle|first=Jonathan|title=For Whom the Bell Tolls|url=https://archive.org/details/forwhombelltolls0000mant|url-access=registration|year=1992|publisher=Sinclair-Stevenson |location=London |isbn=9781856191524 }}</ref>

Over half the UK's top 100 listed companies (the [[FTSE 100]]) and over 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies have their headquarters in central London. Over 70 per cent of the FTSE 100 are within London's metropolitan area, and 75 per cent of [[Fortune 500]] companies have offices in London.<ref name="london_113">{{Cite web|date=9 June 2009|title=London Stock Exchange|url=http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609022757/http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/|archive-date=9 June 2009|access-date=27 April 2008|website=[[London Stock Exchange]]}}</ref> In a 1992 report commissioned by the London Stock Exchange, Sir [[Adrian Cadbury]], chairman of his family's confectionery company [[Cadbury]], produced the [[Cadbury Report]], a code of best practice which served as a basis for reform of [[corporate governance]] around the world.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gittelson |first1=Steven |title=Adrian Cadbury, a leader in corporate governance, dies at 86 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/adrian-cadbury-a-leader-in-corporate-governance-dies-at-86/2015/09/04/e87dd2fe-532e-11e5-8c19-0b6825aa4a3a_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=4 September 2015}}</ref>