More than half of financial services professionals (56 per cent) now consider New York to be the world’s preeminent financial sector, against just a third (34 per cent) for the UK.

This is according to Duff & Phelps’ latest Global Regulatory Outlook, which surveyed 240 senior executives working across banking, asset management, hedge funds, private equity, broker dealers and others in the UK, US and Asia.

The previous year’s survey had New York at 42 per cent and London at 53 per cent, leading the advisory firm to state: “it is difficult to avoid the suspicion that three years of uncertainty since the Brexit vote in the UK has contributed to this fall from grace”.

When asked what city they expect to lead in the next five years, respondents saw both London and New York losing ground. While the decline for New York is relatively modest, with half still expecting it to be the leader, confidence in the UK’s future is far weaker, with just 22 per cent predicting London will still be the major force in financial services at the end of the period.

If there is any consolation for London, it is that relatively few saw Paris or Frankfurt making great gains. Rather, it was emerging centres in Hong Kong, Singapore and particularly Shanghai, that are expected to see the major growth.

The wider survey was focused on regulatory change, with a general level of acceptance with the current regime.

Close to two-thirds of respondents said that their current local regime is effective in preventing financial crime (64 per cent), even though only a third (34 per cent) were willing to vouch that it is effective on a global level.

In the same report from two years ago, a fifth of business said they expected compliance spending to account for less than one per cent of annual revenue, but by last year that had fallen to one in 10, although this time respondents were asked for compliance spending as a percentage of overall budget. This year, only six per cent said they will spend less than one per cent of their 2020 budget on compliance. The proportion spending more than five per cent, meanwhile, was one third.

Whether in terms of budget or revenue, the increasing proportion spent on compliance is a worry for businesses. In fact, the cost of compliance is among the biggest challenges, with a fifth of executives identifying it as the top issue for their firms. Just under a quarter (24 per cent), named the war for talent – a challenge to which the increasing need for skilled compliance workers has undoubtedly contributed, according to recruitment professionals.

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