A number of organisations have tried to predict how financial centres, including those often dubbed as "offshore," will fare in coming years.

A white paper charting the future of financial centres says that these hubs should collaborate for mutual benefit and that successful centres will be “green, smart, innovative, customer-focused and inclusive” by 2030.

The paper has been issued by Dubai International Financial Centre, the World Alliance of International Financial Centers, and the Z/Yen Group, a think tank.

“The global financial industry is amid a dramatic wave of change that started during the financial crisis in 2008. Since then, rapid changes in technology, demand for sustainable finance, and the pandemic continued to drive change,” Jennifer Reynolds, chair of the WAIFC, said. “The pace of change will increase, and financial centres must focus their priorities on becoming green, smart, innovative, customer-focused, digital, and inclusive. This white paper strengthens our spirit of collaboration between leading financial centres from across the globe.”

The report followed the WAIFC’s annual general meeting, in which CEO-level representatives from financial centres worldwide gathered in DIFC to share insights on policy design and regulatory interventions to enable sustainable growth, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and human capital development.

A number of organisations have tried to predict how financial centres, including those often dubbed as "offshore," will fare in coming years. For example, Boston Consulting Group recently predicted that Hong Kong would displace Switzerland as the world’s largest hub for cross-border financial flows.