Financial and business services, including law, accounting, and business consulting, have been one of the most dynamic sectors of the world economy, and one of the most controversial. Although they are central to the processes of globalisation, financialisation and development, our understanding of the sector in the context of tumultuous changes of the early 21st century is partial. How have these firms and their geography been affected by the global financial crisis and the Eurozone crisis? How are they changing in response to new financial regulation, the expected shift of economic activity to Asia-Pacific and the Global South, and the digital revolution? What are their impacts on urban, regional, and global development?
