Germany, like the United States and Russia was seen as an ascending major power before WWI, whereas Britain and France were the older established major powers. This explains why London and Paris were still by far the most important financial centres in the world in 1914.
Though Britain was the world's largest creditor nation and overseas with $20 billion invested overseas (in its empire and foreign countries), France was still the world's second largest overseas investor with $9.7 billion invested abroad. Germany's place was growing, and by July of 1914 they had $5.8 billion invested abroad. However, Britain had a mere $1.05 billion invested in Europe, whereas France had $5.4 billion invested in Europe, making it the largest investor on the continent. Of that sum, $2.5 billion was invested in Russia.
French investment in Russia was largely in the coal and iron industry, but it was also in the emerging industrial sector (textiles, gas, electricity, chemicals). The petroleum industry, railways, banking and insurance also had extensive French investment. Germany invested in railways, banking but also in industry tied to electronics and machinery. British capital was overwhelmingly concentrated in the Caucasus oil industry and copper mining.
As shown below, Germany was quickly catching up to France.
Foreign Investment in Russia 1914
French 32.6%
British 22.6%
German 19.7%
Belgian 14.3%
It should be noted that by July of 1914, Germany already had $2.55 billion invested in Europe, more than double that of Britain, in Austria-Hungary they were the largest foreign investor in that country. Had the war not have occurred, perhaps Germany would have overtaken France's place in Russia, as they were already dominating Russian trade and German banks were active in the country. One of the complaints of the French government was that French capital invested abroad seemed to bring little benefit in terms of trade to France. By 1914, although France had a large industrial sector, it was highly fractured into small enterprises, unable to compete on the global scale like those of Britain and Germany. France did however, have a strong banking sector, able to earn capital abroad. Germany had become the world's second largest exporter, and was even France's largest trading partner.
However, when it came to banking, it was clear that France still had larger banks, as noted below. If one looks at the largest banks in the world in 1913, it is evidently clear the City in London was by far the world's financial hub. Paris, played a secondary role, with Berlin coming in third and New York a close fourth. After that, Vienna was still important in banking followed by St. Petersburg.
World's Largest Banks by Deposits 1913
Imperial Bank of Russia $612,829,000
Lloyds Bank $507,605,000
London City and Midland Bank $456,643,000
Credit Lyonnais $435,060,000
London County and Westminster Bank $429,780,000
Deutsche Bank $384,463,000
Societe Generale $352,885,000
Bank of England $347,259,000
National Provincial Bank of England $330,348,000
HSBC $299,533,000
Barclay & Co. $295,912,000
Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris $275,317,000
Bank of Spain $274,062,000
Direction der Disconto-Gesselschaft $243,325,000
Dresdner Bank $233,203,0000
Banco de la Nacion Argentina $230,010,000
National City Bank (New York) $215,420,000
Parr's Bank $212,515,000
Russian Bank for Foreign Trade $209,337,000
Union of London and Smiths Bank $204,802,000
Bank of France $196,808,000
Capital and Counties Bank $194,456,000
Canadian Bank of Commerce $193,536,000
Imperial Bank of Germany $193,171,000
Bank of Montreal $190,280,000
London Joint Stock Bank $183,160,000
Osterrichische Credit-Anstalt fur Handel und Gewerbe $175,218,000
Continental and Commercial National Bank (Chicago) $174,415,000
Banque Internationale de Commerce at St. Petersburg $171,554,000
Bank of New South Wales $166,628,000
Volga Kama Commercial Bank (Russia) $166,074,000
Guaranty Trust Co. of New York $162,473,000
Russian Commercial and Industrial Bank $158,979,000
Banca Commerciale Italiana $158,117,000
Darmstadter Bank $147,864,000
Banque Russo-Asiatique $145,995,000
National Bank of Commerce (New York) $144,754,000
Allgemeine Oesterreichische Boden Credit Anstalt $140,014,000
Royal Bank of Canada $138,695,000
First National Bank (Chicago) $138,408,000
Bankers' Trust Co. (New York) $133,576,000
Manchester and Liverpool District Bank $126,125,000
Chase National Bank $120,767,000
London and River Plate Bank $114,032,000
National Park Bank (New York) $112,601,000
Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. (New York) $112,148,000
Hanover National Bank (New York) $110,338,000
Oesterreichische Landerbank $108,722,000
Oesterreichische Ungarische Bank $106,425,000
London and South Western Bank $104,732,000
Union Bank of Australia Ltd. $103,827,000
Central Trust Co. (New York) $103,622,000
First National Bank (New York) $103,218,000
Commercial Banking Company of Sydney $102,956,000
Yokohama Specie Bank $102,571,000
Standard Bank of South Africa $101,710,000
Anglo-Austrian Bank $101,155,000
Bank of Liverpool $98,678,000
London and Provincial Bank $98,527,000
Yorkshire Penny Bank $98,109,000
Bank of Scotland $97,627,000
A closer look at the banks above will reveal that the large Russian commercial banks were often backed by French, German or Belgian capital. The Russian Bank for Foreign Trade & the Banque Internationale de Commerce (known as the International) had 3/4 of their capital in German hands (Deutsche Bank and Dsikonto-Gesselschaft. Banque Rosso-Asiatique, St. Petersburg-Azov, and The Commercial and Industrial Bank, were controlled by French capital from Societe Generale, Union Parisienne and Paris et Pays-Bas banks.