New York: The New York Financial District, otherwise known as FiDi, contains the largest stock exchange in the world, the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the New York Mercantile Exchange, NASDAQ, and the New York Board of Trade. The business district’s proximity to Broadway makes it a popular tourist destination.
San Francisco: San Francisco’s booming business district and proximity to Silicon Valley has led it to outrank New York on numerous lists of top cities for financial experts. San Francisco is home to six Fortune 500 companies: McKesson, Wells Fargo, PG&E, Gap, Charles Schwab, and Salesforce.com, and many other big names including the Union Bank of California, Levi Strauss & Co, Bechtel, and Blue Shield. At the heart of the district is Montgomery St, the “Wall Street of the West.”
London: London has two major financial districts: the larger of the two is the “Square Mile,” which is also the general hub of the city. The other is Canary Wharf, located about four kilometers to the East of central London. Put together, the two contain such institutions as the Bank of England, the London Stock Exchange, the London Bullion Market, Lloyd’s of London, HSBC, Barclays, and Standard Chartered.
Tokyo: The financial district of Tokyo is called Marunouchi, a word which means “inside the circle, as it had once lain within the inner moat of the palace. Companies based here include Mitsubishi Group companies, Hitachi, Furukawa Electric, Asahi Glass, and Nikko Citigroup. It also contains the Japan offices of many foreign companies, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of India, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and Standard & Poor’s. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the 4th largest in the world.
Hong Kong: Low taxes and cheap port trade make the city of Hong Kong an economic superpower. It contains the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the sixth largest stock exchange in the world, and Hong Kong is the largest center of IPOs in the world. Unlike the other cities on this list, Hong Kong has no central financial center.
Chicago: The financial district of Chicago, known as “the Loop,” is the second largest business district in the United States, after New York. It houses such corporations as Chase, Aon Corporation, United Airlines, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, and Morton Salt.
Irvine, California: If you want to live somewhere with a thriving financial sector but aren’t sure how you feel about the big city, Irvine, located in Orange County, California, is booming as a result of its proximity to Silicon Valley. Companies headquartered here include Blizzard Entertainment, Kelley Blue Book, LA Fitness, Razer, and Paragon Software Group. Several international companies, including Samsung Electronics, Kia Motors, and Toshiba Corporation have their US headquarters here.
