Hong Kong overtakes the United States and the United Kingdom to take the top spot on the World Economic Forum's fourth annual Financial Development Report released Tuesday.

As the first Asian financial center to achieve this ranking, Hong Kong's position was bolstered by strong scores in non-banking financial services such as initial public offerings (IPO) activity and insurance, the report said.

Although it slips to second place, the United States' overall score remains compared to last year. While financial stability continues to be a concern, the US was able to offset this weakness with strong financial intermediation results. 

The United Kingdom declined in both score and rank, placing third overall as a result of lower scores on securitization and IPO activity.

"Hong Kong's ascent to the top of our Index marks a major milestone, the first time in the Report's history that the United Kingdom or the US didn't come out on top," explained Kevin Steinberg, Chief Operating Officer, World Economic Forum USA. "While Western financial centers are understandably focused on short-term challenges, this Report should serve as a wake-up call that their long-term leadership may be in jeopardy."

90 percent of the financial systems surveyed have not returned to pre-crisis levels in terms of access to capital and global challenges to finance economic growth remain, especially access to credit and financing through local equity markets, the report summarized.

Launched in 2008, the Financial Development Report ranks 60 of the world's leading financial systems and capital markets. It analyses the drivers of financial system development in advanced and emerging economies to serve as a tool for countries to benchmark themselves and establish priorities for reform. The rankings are based on over 120 variables spanning institutional and business environments, financial stability, and size and depth of capital markets, among other factors.

Here is the top 10 financial markets on this year's Financial Development Index:

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