* Isle of Man recognised as - the leading offshore centre -The City of London's second Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 2) has recognised the Isle of Man as "the leading offshore centre". The GFCI report published top 50 financial centres. According to the report, the Isle of Man ranks 21st, preceding such offshore competitors as Cayman Islands, Channel Islands and Bermuda. Also, the GFCI report indicated 7 "new" financial centres that appeared in the top for the first time, and the Isle of Man is the highest "new" financial centre. It is also 3rd in the British Isles after London and Dublin. The GFCI research is carried out by the Z/Yen Group Limited for the City of London Corporation, using additional data from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ranking financial centres in the GFCI 2 report for September 2007 is based on current views of competitiveness and external benchmarking data. Competitiveness in 5 key areas - people, the business environment; market access; infrastructure and general competitiveness - is taken into account.