The claim is made in the context of Farage discussing his career in the City of London and the transformation he witnessed there during the 1980s and 1990s. The evidence strongly supports that London became a genuine global centre for financial innovation during this period. Key evidence: 1. The Big Bang of 1986 — the deregulation of the London Stock Exchange (abolition of fixed commissions, removal of barriers to foreign entry) — is widely recognized as a transformative event. Reuters described it as "hailed as a brilliant innovation that cemented London's role as a global financial powerhouse" and noted it "made it the world's capital of unfettered finance." 2. A Cambridge Core article on regulatory foundations of financialisation (1975–1990) identifies "deregulation and financial innovation" as the two underlying forces of the revolution in international financial markets during this period, with London as a central player. 3. An academic chapter titled "London as an International Financial Centre, 1980–2000" directly addresses London's prosperity in international financial services during precisely the decades Farage references. 4. The Greater London Authority's own report on London's Central Business District shows data from 1992 onward demonstrating London's significant and growing market shares in cross-border bank lending, foreign exchange turnover, derivatives, and international bonds — all indicators of its emergence as a global financial centre during this period. 5. The Plender article on "London's Big Bang in International Context" details how London thrived in the 1980s on the basis of new financial instruments (swaps, Euronotes, commercial paper), the Eurobond market boom, and its strategic position between Tokyo and New York. The claim is appropriately hedged with "in many ways" and "becoming," and in context refers to financial and entrepreneurial innovation in the City of London. The evidence confirms this characterization: the 1980s and 1990s were indeed the period when London consolidated its position as one of the world's preeminent global financial centres, with significant innovation in financial products and services. Sources: - Reuters, "London's Big Bang at 25, origin of today's financial universe" — https://www.reuters.com/article/markets/londons-big-bang-at-25-origin-of-todays-financial-universe-idUSL5E7LO1T7/ - Cambridge Core, "Regulatory foundations of financialisation: May Day, Big Bang and international banking, 1975–1990" — https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/financial-history-review/article/abs/regulatory-foundations-of-financialisation-may-day-big-bang-and-international-banking-19751990/BC64CC16626696DD23496ED3DB82A9B6 - Oxford Academic, "London as an International Financial Centre, 1980–2000: Global Powerhouse or Wimbledon EC2?" — https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269495.003.0014 - Greater London Authority, "London's Central Business District: Its global importance" — https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/gla_migrate_files_destination/londons-cbd-jan08.pdf - John Plender, "London's Big Bang in International Context" — https://g-city.sass.org.cn/_upload/article/files/0f/cd/5f96eddf40f8b95552fb106e5fca/95f917f1-872f-40d5-90c9-e772e72d24c4.pdf