New York is now the Number 1 financial center in the world based on the Global Financial Centres Index, Bloomberg reported.

It wrestled the top spot from London for the first time after a series of scandals and issues surrounding the place of the UK in the European Union shook the city. However, Z/Yen Group Ltd Chairman Michael Mainelli said the Big Apple held only a two-point lead over London, which was "shaky" and "statistically insignificant." The index is compiled by the Z/Yen Group Ltd, the report said.

Meanwhile, the index revealed that Hong Kong and Singapore have closed in on the lead held by the top two cities to less than 30 points on a scale of 1,000. Since the index was first published in 2007, New York had been London's constant challenger for the top spot. The US city finally got the lead this year when its rating rose seven points while the capital of the UK posted a 10-point fall, representing the biggest decline of any financial center in the top 50 list, the report said.

London's reputation for integrity was put in question when scandals that included lenders offering unnecessary insurance products to their clients, rigging of financial benchmarks and trading losses marred its reputation. There were also concerns on the terms of its entry to the EU market with the EU holding plans to have a referendum on EU membership, the report said.

The report quoted Mainelli as saying, "London needs a reputation that everyone who comes will be treated fairly and can compete fairly. Without the large domestic economies behind New York and Hong Kong, London needs to act more like a Singaporean city state or have the backing of a European Union domestic economy."

This is the 15^th edition of Global Financial Centres Index that is taken from the answers to an online survey. It is updated two times a year, the report said.