London continues to thrive as a financial centre, having apparently ridden out the economic downturn. Financial services contributed Ł15.6bn to the UK’s surplus on invisible earnings in 2003, according to figures from International Financial Services, London (IFSL), and London operations were responsible for a significant proportion of this.
The UK remains a major international centre for investment and private banking in addition to commercial banking. Assets of the UK banking sector at the end of 2003 were Ł4165bn, of which foreign banks held the majority (52%). Bank of England figures show bank lending at the end of 2003 reached Ł2608bn, of which over one-third was targeted at overseas customers.
