London. London has been a leading international financial centre since the 19th century, acting as a centre of lending and investment around the world.[10]:74–75[26]:149 English contract law was adopted widely for international finance, with legal services provided in London.[27] Financial institutions located there provided services internationally such as  Lloyd's of London (founded 1686) for insurance and the Baltic Exchange (founded 1744) for shipping.[28] During the 20th century London played an important role in the development of new financial products such as the Eurodollar and Eurobonds in the 1960s, international asset management and international equities trading in the 1980s, and derivatives in the 1990s.[15]:13[5]:6,12–13,88–9[29]