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Latest indicators show that trading in UK listed companies on the London Stock Exchange totalled £3,138bn in the first nine months of 2007, up a third on the same period in 2006.

The London Stock Exchange accounted for 53 per cent of foreign equity trading in the first nine months of 2007, up 3 per cent on 2006. London was the second largest location for IPOs in the first nine months of 2007 with a 15 per cent global share.

Trading on Liffe totalled 724 million contracts in the first nine months of 2007, up 28 per cent on the same period in 2006. The volume of trading at LME, EDX and ICE Futures Europe was also up in 2007. UK participants in the Eurex exchange accounted for 46 per cent of contracts in the first nine months of 2007.

Daily foreign exchange trading in London increased from $753bn in April 2004 to $1,359bn in April 2007. London accounted for 34 per cent of global foreign exchange trading and 43 per cent of global OTC derivatives trading in April 2007.

The figures, published in a new edition of International Financial Services London’s (IFSL) International Financial Markets in the UK report, show that the UK’s 17 per cent share of net issues in the international bond market in 2007 in the first half of 2007 was up from 15 per cent in 2006.

Premium income in the London insurance market totalled £24.3bn in 2006, down 9 per cent on the previous year. Premium income of the UK insurance industry grew 16 per cent in 2006 to a record £193.9bn. The London Market’s 23.7 per cent share of marine insurance in 2006 was the highest in the world.

UK banking sector assets increased 16 per cent in the first 8 months of 2007 to a record £7,271bn. The UK had the leading share of international bank lending (20 per cent) and international bank borrowing (23 per cent) in March 2007.

The growing contribution of financial services to the UK economy is shown in City type employment reaching a new high of 338,000 in 2006. UK financial services trade surplus increased by nearly a third in 2006 to £25.1bn. The surplus in the first half of 2007 reached £15.6bn.

Related links

• International Financial Services London