Uncertainties lingering over the financial regulatory landscape are slowing down economic recovery in the West, as Hong Kong and Singapore emerge to compete with London and New York as new global centres of finance, Blackstone Group chief executive Stephen Schwarzman said.

Speaking at a lecture at Hong Kong University yesterday, Schwarzman warned that the slow speed with which regulators around the world are defining new rules to govern the global financial system is hampering growth, particularly as banks will remain cautious about lending until they have greater clarity about what's expected of their capital structures.