The International Finance Centre (abbr. IFC, branded as "ifc") is an integrated commercial development on the waterfront of Hong Kong's Central District.

A prominent landmark on Hong Kong Island, IFC consists of two skyscrapers, the IFC Mall, and the 55-story Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Tower 2 is the second tallest building in Hong Kong, behind the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon. It is the fourth-tallest building in the Greater China region and the eighth-tallest office building in the world, based on structural heights; by roof height, only the Taipei 101, Shanghai World Financial Center, Willis Tower, International Commerce Centre and Burj Khalifa exceed it. It is of similar height to the former World Trade Center. The Airport Express Hong Kong Station is directly beneath it.

IFC was constructed and is owned by IFC Development, a consortium of Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land and Towngas.

In 2003, Financial Times, HSBC, and Cathay Pacific put up an advertisement on the facade that stretched more than 50 storeys, covering an area of 19,000 m² (0.2 million square ft) and a length of 230 m, making it the world's largest advertisement ever put on a skyscraper.

A financial centre is a global city that is home to a large number of internationally significant banks, businesses, and stock exchanges.

An international financial centre is a non-specific term usually used to describe an important participant in international financial market trading. An international financial centre (sometimes abbreviated to IFC) will usually have at least one major stock market.

In 2011, the Xinhua News Agency of China, partnering with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Dow Jones & Company of the United States, released the Xinhua-Dow Jones International Financial Centers Development Index. According to this index, the top ten financial centers in the world are:

The Global Financial Centres Index is compiled by the London-based British think-tank Z/Yen and is published annually by the City of London Corporation. As of 2012, the top ten financial centres according to the Global Financial Centres Index in the world are:

New York Times analyst Daniel Gross wrote:

An example is the alternative trading platform known as BATS based in Kansas City which came "out of nowhere to gain a 9 percent share in the market for trading United States stocks." The firm has computers in New Jersey, two salespersons in New York City, but the remaining 33 employees work in a centre in Missouri.

International finance (also referred to as international monetary economics or international macroeconomics) is the branch of financial economics broadly concerned with monetary and macroeconomic interrelations between two or more countries. International finance examines the dynamics of the global financial system, international monetary systems, balance of payments, exchange rates, foreign direct investment, and how these topics relate to international trade.

Sometimes referred to as multinational finance, international finance is additionally concerned with matters of international financial management. Investors and multinational corporations must assess and manage international risks such as political risk and exchange rate risk, including transaction exposure, economic exposure, and translation exposure.

Some examples of key concepts within international finance are the Mundell–Fleming model, the optimum currency area theory, purchasing power parity, interest rate parity, and the international Fisher effect. Whereas the study of international trade makes use of mostly microeconomic concepts, international finance research investigates predominantly macroeconomic concepts.

Richard Philips, best known by his stage name Richard X, is a British songwriter and music producer. Gaining attention as a pioneer of the bootleg craze, Richard X has earned success as a producer and remixer. He has helmed hit singles for artists including Annie, Kelis, Liberty X, Rachel Stevens and Sugababes. According to an early issue of the now defunct Popworld magazine, Philips' alias comes from a postcard which was sealed with a kiss misinterpreted for the letter X.

Richard X is known for his "synthesised, grungy pop music", which was inspired by bands such as The Human League and Kraftwerk. His original intention was to "reinvent" pop music by making records that are "deliberately unplayable". Referring to his Girls on Top bootlegs, Richard X says, "At the time it was inspired by anti the po-facedness of the electronica scene as much as anything. The production side, how it sounded - rough and spiky, electronic and modern - was what did it for me. Taking pop and putting it through a blender sound wise was the spirit of the times."