London stood at the top of a list of 50 cities as the world''s biggest commerce centre, beating New York, Tokyo and Chicago, according to a report by MasterCard, the world''s second-biggest credit-card company.

London beat New York in four of six areas in the report covering economic stability, ease of doing business, volumes of financial flow and attributes as a business centre.

The study is the latest saying New York lags London as a global commerce centre.
New York was once considered the unchallenged financial capital of the world but has now ceded ground to London primarily because bond market regulations in New York affect the volume of listed sales MasterCard said.

The report also said the US would lose its place as the world''s leading financial centre in the next decade if legal and regulatory changes were not made.

The total amount of money raised in Europe so far this year is 78 per cent greater than the value of US offerings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as stricter financial-reporting requirements in New York deter some companies from listing there.

Critics blame the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in 2002, for a decline in public share sales in US markets. The US accounted for 20 per cent of all IPOs last year, down from 35 per cent in 2001, according to the Financial Services Forum, which represents the country''s largest banks and insurers.