Bermuda has climbed 23 places in the latest Global Financial Centres Index to become one of the highest-ranked offshore financial centres globally even as overall feelings towards the sector weakened.

The island rose to 57th place in the Global Financial Centres Index 39, published in March, while its rating increased by 13 points — a major gain in an edition where scores fell across most jurisdictions.

The report said average ratings declined by 1.82 per cent globally, due to broader shifts in perception rather than changes specific to individual centres.

Against that backdrop, Bermuda’s improvement was among the largest recorded, matched only by Cyprus, while other rivals also advanced, including the Cayman Islands, which rose 18 places, and the British Virgin Islands, up ten.

Bermuda retained its position as the leading financial centre in Latin America and the Caribbean, ahead of Cayman and Santiago, despite the region recording the steepest overall decline in ratings worldwide.

The index, compiled by Z/Yen and the China Development Institute, is based on more than 34,000 assessments from financial professionals combined with quantitative data measuring competitiveness.

It found that regulatory factors are playing an increasingly important role in shaping perceptions of financial centres, with predictability, speed of response and quality of supervision ranked as most important.

“The most important factor was predictability, followed by the speed of regulatory response, flexibility and the quality of regulation,” the report said, noting that cost was considered the least important factor.

The report’s authors said the findings suggest that jurisdictions with stable and responsive regulatory regimes are gaining ground, even as global uncertainty weighs on overall confidence.

New York retained the top position in the index, followed by London, Hong Kong and Singapore.