The London Markets For centuries prior to the 1930s London maintained its preeminence as an international financial center. It does not matter that Britain no longer has the economic, political and military prosperous that it once had. London still is unparalleled in the variety of services and the degree of financial expertise that it possesses, and London continues, despite all of the weakness of the British economy, to be a very dynamic and powerful financial market. Especially important is its role as an " offshore " financial center