I’ve just returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where there were a number of events. Just a few weeks ago, I was in Bahrain, talking at a conference about FinTech as usual. What struck me is the interest and excitement about FinTech in both countries. There’s also a lot of competition between different cities in the region to be a recognised Financial Centre. Bearing in mind that none of these cities were on the map fifteen years ago, it’s quite incredible that today Dubai is the 18th largest Global Financial Centre, one place higher than Frankfurt; Abu Dhabi is 32nd on the list, squeezed in between Dublin and Amsterdam; Doha is number 40, above Stockholm and Jersey; and Bahrain is 58th, above Johannesburg and Copenhagen. Ten years ago, when the first Global Financial Centres Index was produced, Dubai was at number 25 in the charts, and Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bahrain didn’t even make the list.