June 12 (Bloomberg) -- London tops a list of 50 cities as the world's commerce center, beating New York, Tokyo and Chicago, a report by MasterCard Inc., the world's second-biggest credit- card company, showed.

London surpasses New York in four of six areas in the report covering economic stability, the ease of doing business, volumes of financial flows and attributes as a business center, MasterCard said in a statement today. The study is the latest saying New York lags behind London as a global commerce center.

``Once considered the unchallenged financial capital of the world, New York cedes to London a key dimension measuring financial transactions primarily because bond market regulations in New York affect the volume of listed sales,'' MasterCard said in its first annual worldwide centers of commerce index.

The U.S. will lose its place as the world's leading financial center in the next decade without legal and regulatory changes, according to report in January commissioned by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Senator Charles Schumer. The total amount of money raised in Europe so far this year is 78 percent greater than the value of U.S. offerings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as stricter financial-reporting requirements in New York deter some companies from listing.

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Currency Trading

A survey in January by the Bank of England and the U.S. Federal Reserve showed that London extended its lead over New York as the world's leading market for currency trading last year, with a six-month average daily trading of $1.06 trillion, compared with $534 billion in New York.

In March, a study commissioned by the City of London cited New York's regulation as the key reason for lagging behind its European rival as the world's top financial center.

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

Apart from scoring the highest possible rating for banking services and currency exchange regulations, London has the biggest financial services network of all cities, with more banking, financial services and insurance companies based there than any other, MasterCard said.

New York, on the other hand, has the highest value of equities trading in the world, nearly five times that of London, MasterCard said. It also has the most commodities contracts of any global city.

Asian Cities

Tokyo led Asian rivals Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul as the third-ranked city in the top 10.

``I believe that these results were achieved by Tokyo possessing, among a spectrum of commercial attractions, an advanced urban infrastructure, and one of the safest and most secure living environments in the world,'' Shintaro Ishihara, governor of Tokyo, said in the statement.

Tokyo ranks third globally in total volume of equities traded, after New York and London, while coming in fourth in the number of commodities contracts traded, MasterCard said. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the world's second-largest bourse, after the New York Stock Exchange.

Hong Kong edges out Singapore for the fifth spot in the index because it has more equity transactions and a higher score related to its business climate, MasterCard said.

Amongst the top 10 cities, Chicago ranks fourth, Singapore sixth, Frankfurt is number seven while Paris, Seoul and Los Angeles are placed eighth to tenth.

The MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index was judged on six criteria: legal and political framework, economic stability, the ease of doing business, volumes of financial flow, attributes as a business center, as well as knowledge creation and information flows.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chia-Peck Wong in Hong Kong at cpwong@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 12, 2007 04:52 EDT