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Top 10 Biggest Banks In the World. 2021(New)Largest banking group in the world -
Overview
The banking sector in the United Kingdom is regarded as the largest in Europe and it is considered to be the fourth largest in the world. Banking in the UK is highly developed, with new entrants in the sector being driven by cutting-edge technology and innovation. It also considered being the largest financial center in the world for cross-border lending.
With a staggering amount of 40 billion payments made in 2017 alone, the UK’s banking sector has the deep penetration of banking across the country. Banks in the United Kingdom can be demonstrated by the fact that nearly the entire population of the UK has a debit card and about two-thirds of the population is said to have a credit card.

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Source: Banks in the United Kingdom (wallstreetmojo.com)
Structure of Banks in the United Kingdom
There are different categories of banks in the UK. Each category of banks caters to varying needs, ranging from personal to business needs. Listed below are the four major categories of banks in the UK.
- Central bank – In the UK, the central bank is the Bank of England or BoE. The Bank of England is the central bank of the UK and also happens to the world’s eighth oldest bank. The Bank of England is tasked with setting up and maintaining the monetary policyMonetary policy refers to the steps taken by a country’s central bank to control the money supply for economic stability. For example, policymakers manipulate money circulation for increasing employment, GDP, price stability by using tools such as interest rates, reserves, bonds, etc.read more and financial stability of the country.
- High Street Banks – High street banks are like retail banks that have multiple branch locations. Given that these banks provide retail services, they mostly serve the general public. This means that instead of targeting a specific market or type of customer, they service a wide range of customers. A major characteristic of high street banks is that they are widespread and are located in any commercial sector of both, towns and cities.
- Business banking –Business banking servicesBusiness banking refers to a bank or financial institution that focuses solely on businesses and corporate clients, offering products such as business loans, asset management, and electronic fund transfers that are tailored to their specific needs.read more are those which are offered by High street banks. These services are provided in addition to what an ordinary account can offer. Hence, these are offered as additional services and for a certain fee.
- Investment banking – There financial institutions that offer investment banking servicesInvestment banking is a specialized banking stream that facilitates the business entities, government and other organizations in generating capital through debts and equity, reorganization, mergers and acquisition, etc.read more to a range of customers, from individuals, corporations to governments. These investment banking services are offered by these institutes wherein they invest in stocks of other companies as well as in bonds. Banks in United Kingdom services are provided on behalf of the high street banks, investment trustsAn investment trust is a publicly traded financial institution that operates as a closed-end fund (CEF) and invests in shares or financial assets on behalf of its investors or other organizations. The value of the amount of money invested in an investment trust is dependent by the demand and supply for the invested share or financial asset, as well as the underlying value of the assets owned.read more, and pension funds.
List of 10 Top Banks in the United Kingdom (UK)
- HSBC Holdings
- Lloyds Banking Group
- Royal Bank of Scotland Group
- Barclays
- Standard Chartered
- Santander UK
- Nationwide Building Society
- Schroders
- Close Brothers
- Coventry Building Society
The banks in the UK have gone through a major transition over the past decade. Currently, a major share of the banking sector is occupied by a few large banks. The top five largest banks are HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Barclays and Standard Chartered. This handful of banks have a monopoly on the supply of services to these enterprises. Let us now look at some of the history and current status of the topmost banks in the UK.
#1. HSBC Holdings:
In terms of total assets held, HSBC Holdings is deemed to be the seventh-largest bank in the world and the largest one in Europe. Although it was founded in Hong Kong in March 1865, it currently has its headquarters in the financial capital of United Kingdom, London and is the largest bank in United Kingdom. It has a wide range of services ranging from commercial banking, global banking, global private banking, retail banking, wealth management etc. The name of the bank, HSBC comes from the name that was in use when it was founded in Hong Kong, namely, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
#2. Lloyds Banking Group:
The Lloyds Banking Group is considered to be a major banking institution in United Kingdom. It was founded in 2009 by acquiring HBOS. In fact, it was formed by the merging of HBOS and another bank, Lloyds TSB. Lloyds Banking Group also has a set of four subsidiaries, namely, Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and HBOS. It is considered the second largest bank in the United Kingdom and is headquartered in London.
#3. Royal Bank of Scotland Group:
The Royal Bank of Scotland or RBS Group is a retail banking company that provides various services to its customers ranging from corporate finance, business banking, insurance, and personal banking. It has its headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland with offices in other parts of the world as well.
#4. Barclays:
A multinational investment bank and financial services company, Barclays is headquartered in London and operates in around fifty countries worldwide. Barclays offers various investment banking services like corporate banking, personal banking, insurance and wealth management.
#5. Standard Chartered:
Standard Chartered is a multinational banking and financial services company. Even though it is headquartered in London, It is a financial services company that does not offer any retail banking services in the United Kingdom. A major portion of its profit is from its operations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
#6. Santander UK:
Santander UK is a financial services company that offers commercial banking, retail banking and global corporate banking services. It offers its services through various channels like ATMs, internet, digital, mobile, telephone etc.
#7. Nationwide Building Society:
The Nation Building Society is like a mutual fund institution which deemed to be the largest building society in the world with 15 million members. It provides its members with the current account, mortgage, savings and personal financesPersonal Financing is a way of saving, investing, and growing an individual's money. It can be for an individual or a family as a whole and requires some level of financial literacy such as tax laws, investment opportunities, etc.read more related services.
#8. Schroders:
Schroders is an asset management companyAsset Management Company is a company that takes the financial assets of a person, company or another asset management company (generally this will be high net worth individuals) and use the assets to invest in companies that use those as a operational investment, financial investment or any other investment in order to grow the investment.read more headquartered in London. It has operations in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It offers various services like retail banking and wealth management, commercial banking and global banking.
#9. Close Brothers:
Close Brothers comes under the business bank category of banks. It is a merchant banking group that provides services like lending, deposit-taking, trading securities, and wealth management. They provide lending to individuals and small businesses and offer deposits to UK businesses and individuals.
#10. Coventry Building Society:
A building society based out of Coventry in England and is deemed as the second largest bank in the UK. It has Godiva Mortgages Limited, Coventry Building Society and Covered Bonds as its subsidiaries. It has various products and services to offer to its members, ranging from financial planning, mortgages, investment services, savings products, insurance including travel insurance.
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Top 10 Biggest Banks in the World
Like every other industry, banks are getting bigger.
While the local bank isn’t quite long gone, it’s becoming far more rare in an era dominated by major institutions such as Chase, (JPM) - Get JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Report TD Bank (TD) - Get Toronto-Dominion Bank Report and Bank of America (BAC) - Get Bank of America Corp Report. As the Federal Reserve found in one study, between 2000 and 2014 more than 3,000 small banks closed (those handling assets of less than $100 million.) In that same period, the overall amount of money held by the U.S. banking system increased, with almost all growth among institutions holding more than $10 billion in assets.
If that doesn’t drive the point home, this chart by the Institute for Local Self Reliance should do the job. In 1980 the U.S. had more than 20,000 registered banks. That number has declined every single year since.
Customers are increasingly likely to rely on the large banks that can provide national or even global services, and which can offer more competitive interest rates. Meanwhile, from the perspective of banks, consolidation has become a major asset as well. Today’s banks focus on big-budget items such as digital banking, mobile apps and tech security. These programs cost substantial amounts of money to get right, but they’re also expenses that tend to scale well. An app can serve 1 million consumers almost as easily as it can serve 1,000, after all, making economies of scale an increasingly essential part of modern banking.
That said, economies only scale so far. Larger banks do make more money, but they aren’t necessarily any more efficient. As economists from the Kansas City Federal Reserve found, “while the smallest banks can benefit significantly from growth, the advantages of growth become progressively smaller until they are exhausted. For most midsized community banks, the increase in returns relative to size is modest; these banks would need large increases in size to realize significantly higher returns.”
In other words, at a certain point big banks make more money not because they necessarily have a better business model but because they are, well, just plain bigger. And here are the 10 biggest in the world as measured by total assets.
(Data as measured by the industry reporting magazine S&P Global.)
Top 10 Biggest Banks in the World
10. Credit Agricole Group
Nation: France
Assets: $2.12 trillion
For a nation approximately the size of Texas, France is surprisingly well represented on this list. In no small part this is thanks to the success of the European Union. For all of the currency zone’s flaws, it has succeeded in creating the second largest economy in the world after the U.S.
France has profited well off of this relationship. As one of the largest economies in the EU, France and French banks have capitalized on their already strong global standing. This brings Credit Agricole, a bank which has its origins extending agricultural loans, onto our list.
9. BNP Paribas SA
Nation: France
Assets: $2.33 trillion
This bank was formed from a merger of two large institutions in France, the Banque Nationale de Paris, or BNP, and Paribas. This is the second of three European institutions on our list, a major bank that operates on most continents and offers retail and depositor banking services.
8. Bank of America
Nation: U.S.
Assets: $2.35 trillion
For many U.S. consumers, Bank of America (BAC) - Get Bank of America Corp Report might be the single most recognizable name on our list. While all of the entries here are depositor and retail institutions, B of A has made a particularly aggressive push for consumer-level business. They have carved out a significant retail presence where other banks have begun focusing more on deregulated investments and business lending.
Combined with the fact that this is only one of two U.S. banks on our list, this has made B of A one of the largest banks to be a household name.
7. HSBC Holdings
Nation: United Kingdom
Assets: $2.55 trillion
In a more fair and just world, HSBC would stand for Her majesty’s Secret Banking Corporation. This institution would exclusively fund suave espionage services, it would only ever need to employ Daniel Craig and Idris Elba (with Scarlett Johansson on secondment), and its board of directors would comprise Sean Connery and three martinis.
Alas, we live in a fallen world. In fact, HSBC stands for the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. It has its origins in the British trade with China and its East Asian colonies, and today the company operates in more than 60 countries around the world.
6. JP Morgan Chase
Nation: U.S.
Assets: $2.62 trillion
If you would like to understand why every serious economist and politician in the U.S. has at least one eye on China, here’s a data point. Fifty years ago, American institutions would have dominated a list like this. Today, JP Morgan Chase is the last American entry and it doesn’t even merit the top five. All but one of the rest are based in China.
Does that mean America’s era has ended? Probably not. After all, no matter what country you’re in, when someone conducts research like this, they measure each bank in U.S. dollars. America’s economy and money is still the standard by which the rest of the world is judged, and there are far more reasons for that than simple size.
5. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
Nation: Japan
Assets: $2.81 trillion
The Mitsubishi bank (MUFG) - Get Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Sponsored ADR Report comes from another merger. In fact this institution was formed relatively recently out of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank. For a brief period in the 1990s this was even the largest bank in the world.
Mitsubishi bank works mostly in Japan, but almost 40% of its business does come from outside the country. This gives it a prominent place on the world stage, while keeping most of its assets much closer to home.
4. Bank of China Ltd
Nation: China
Assets: $3.09 trillion
The remaining four entries on this list are all based out of China, and the majority of their holdings are Chinese assets. There are two things to understand about this.
First, this unambiguously represents the modern success of the Chinese economy. In a single generation China grew from an agrarian nation struggling to feed its own people into the world’s third largest economy (behind the U.S. and the European Union).
Second, this represents the difference between assets on deposit and size of an economy. Chinese banks hold more assets on deposit than American banks. By some measures, Chinese banks hold approximately $27 trillion on deposit compared ( to roughly $13 trillion in U.S. institutions. This is true despite the fact that the American economy is still about 40% larger by GDP than China’s.
3. Agricultural Bank of China
Nation: China
Assets: $3.28 trillion
Any lists of the 10 largest banks in the world will note the presence of the Agricultural Bank of China, one of the country’s Big Four. These institutions, all four of which occupy the top slots of our list, are the state-owned banks of the Chinese economy.
This makes them somewhat asymmetrical to western institutions. While the Big Four Chinese banks are the largest in the world by assets on deposit, in large part this is because they are given special roles in that country’s economy. This has led to a hyper-concentration in banking assets. Each of the Big Four banks is worth three or four times as much as the next largest institution, and each (very roughly) corresponds to an assigned role in the economy.
This has generally led China to have fewer, but larger, banks than the west overall. It also makes lists like this something of an inaccurate comparison. In part, JP Morgan and Bank of America serve customers who tend to keep less money on deposit. However in equal measure, these banks don’t have the advantage of government ownership and subsidy.
2. China Construction Bank
Nation: China
Assets: $3.37 trillion
The China Construction Bank, as its name suggests, is generally intended to finance new construction, municipal works, infrastructure and other forms of capital-level projects. As with the other Chinese entries on this list, it is state owned and sponsored.
1. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China
Nation: China
Assets: $4.02 trillion
Here we have it, the largest bank in the world.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the largest of the Big Four. It is the largest financial institution by volume of deposits and assets, and also one of the biggest companies in the world. As with the other Big Four, this is a state-owned and subsidized company, meaning that it is difficult to disentangle the assets of the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China from those of the Chinese government overall. Calling this the world’s largest bank is a little bit like listing the U.S. Army as the world’s largest security operation; accurate, but somewhat unfair to the Pinkertons.
This bank opened its doors in 1984. It plays a role closer to that of a general lender in the Chinese economy although, as the name suggests, its focus was originally on financing industrial, manufacturing and other commercial enterprises.
Eric Reed is a freelance journalist based in Boston.
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Led by Chairman, President and CEO Andy Cecere, our company is guided by a 14-member Managing Committee. This group includes the leaders of our four core business lines – Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; Corporate & Commercial Banking; and Wealth Management and Investment Services – as well as the heads of functional areas including risk management; digital; diversity, equity and inclusion; finance; legal; strategy; and more.
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UK Press Release: HSBC only European bank in global top 10
28 June 2021: HSBC is the only European bank in the global top 10 list for the 10th year running, according to The Banker’s latest ranking of the Top 1000 World Banks (see Table 1). The ranking is based on Tier 1 capital, a key measure of banking strength.
The UK’s largest bank, which has strategically shifted capital to areas garnering higher returns such as Asia and wealth management, moved up one position to 8th in the global ranking and increased its Tier 1 capital by 7.96%, to $160.2bn. It also recorded a 9.91% increase in assets.
Of the top five UK banks, Lloyds Banking Group (ranked 3rd) recorded the highest percentage increase in Tier 1 capital (15.27%) year-on-year, while Barclays (ranked 2nd) topped the group in asset growth (19.93%).
However, all five banks saw declines in pre-tax profits year-on-year: -34.2% for HSBC; -28.72% for Barclays; -71.72% for Lloyds Banking Group; and -56.56% for Standard Chartered (ranked 5th). NatWest Group, in fourth place in the country ranking, moved from profit to loss.
Overall, the UK saw an aggregate 53.08% drop in profits across its banks included in the ranking.
Joy Macknight, editor of The Banker, said: “The UK banking industry has faced significant headwinds over the course of the past year, with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit uncertainty weighing profitability down. Despite the challenging environment, the UK’s banking sector remains the fifth largest in the world, with aggregate Tier 1 capital of $437.5bn, underpinned by London’s position as a leading global financial centre.”
Western Europe had another difficult year due to low economic growth and the interest rate environment hitting the profitability of the region’s biggest lenders. Of the largest European economies, banks’ aggregate pre-tax profits shrank by 43.71% in Germany, 75.72% in Italy and 47.67% in the Netherlands, while France experienced a more modest decline of 11.61%. Spain recorded negative pre-tax profits at an aggregate level, with two of its largest banks, Banco Santander and Bankia, moving from profit to loss in this period (see Table 2).
The western European region now contributes 10.30% of the world’s profits, based on net income data, down from 16.37% last year and nearly one third a decade ago. Return on capital is the lowest for any region – at 3.10% (see Table 3).
Overall, the world’s largest banks have withstood the pressures from the Covid-19 pandemic, adding 12.7% to their collective Tier 1 capital to reach the highest ever level of $9.9 trillion. In addition, total assets increased by 16.0%, to $148.6 trillion, while the deposit base expanded by 17.1%, to $93.9 trillion.
Compared to the global financial crisis in 2007-09, it appears that there is more resiliency in the banking sector. Overall, the Top 1000 World Banks increased the allowance for loan losses (or the reserve to cover bad debts) by 25.8%, to $1.7 trillion, which is a larger increase than the aggregate loan book, which grew by 11.4%. However, as many jurisdictions have extended their Covid-19 support packages into 2021, the true impact of the pandemic has not yet hit the banks’ loan books.
Furthermore, while the Top 1000’s combined profits dropped by 19.2% year-on-year, it is not as catastrophic when compared to the fallout from the financial crisis, when profits plummeted 85.3% in 2009.
Joy Macknight, added: “Although profits have shrunk across the globe and many banks’ balance sheets are loaded with allowances for expected loan losses, the world’s banking industry has held up remarkably well and is better capitalised than ever before.”
China continues to be the engine of growth for the world’s banking industry, increasing aggregate Tier 1 capital and total assets by 18.6% and 18.4%, respectively. China, with 144 banks in the ranking, now holds almost double the amount of Tier 1 Capital ($2.96 trillion) as the US ($1.58 trillion), with 178 banks in the ranking. In addition, profits continued to grow in China by 5.2% year-on-year, while falling by 31.5% in the US and 41.8% in western Europe (see Table 4).
The Asia-Pacific region generated more than half (55.1%) of the world’s profits, based on net income data, up from 43.5% in the 2020 ranking, and was the only region to increase its share of profits.
-ends-
Notes
Tier 1 capital is the core measure of a bank’s financial strength under the Basel regulatory framework.
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For more information, please contact:
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About The Banker
The Banker is the world’s premier banking and finance resource, providing global financial intelligence since 1926.
The Banker is the key source of data and analysis for the industry. The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking has been setting the industry benchmark since 1970, providing comprehensive intelligence about the health and wealth of the banking sector. To find out more visit www.thebanker.com/top1000. The Banker is a service from the Financial Times.
Joy Macknight is the editor of The Banker. She joined the publication in 2015 as transaction banking and technology editor and became editor in March 2021. She has been a financial and technology journalist for more than 15 years.
About the Financial Times
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of more than one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.
About the Group
Leading financial group
DNB is Norway's largest financial services group and one of the largest in the Nordic region in terms of market capitalisation.
The Group offers a full range of financial services, including loans, savings, advisory services, insurance and pension products for retail and corporate customers.
DNB’s bank branches in Norway, in-store postal and banking outlets, Post office counters, Internet banking, mobile services and international offices ensure that we are present where our customers are.
We are a major operator in a number of industries, for which we also have a Nordic or international strategy. DNB is one of the world’s leading shipping banks and has a strong position in the energy sector, and the fisheries and seafood industry.
Customer facts
Figures in 1000 | |
Retail customers in Norway | 2 100 |
Corporate clients in Norway | 232 |
Active Internet bank users in Norway | 1 500 |
Customers in life and pension insurance companies in Norway | 1 300 |
Quick facts about DNB
Leading financial group | Norway's most international |
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International activities
DNB's international activities are based on our extensive experience in the strategic priority areas of shipping, energy and seafood.
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: Largest banking group in the world
Largest banking group in the world |
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Largest banking group in the world -
Crédit Agricole Group
Crédit Agricole Group is the largest financial sponsor of the French economy (10th largest bank in the world by total assets, 48 countries covered, 142 000 employees, 52 million customers worldwide).
The group is also the leading European asset manager, the largest bank insurer in Europe and one of the leading European banks in project finance.
Thanks to its universal community banking model - the close collaboration between its local banks and their related businesses - Crédit Agricole Group supports its clients in their projects in France and around the world: payment methods, asset management, leasing and factoring, corporate and investment banking, insurance...
Being the bank of choice for almost 1 out of every 2 companies in France, the Group operates in 48 countries and has 142 000 employees and 52 million customers.

A global Group committed to supporting companies in their international development
Crédit Agricole Group is a reference bank for companies in international trade and offers them a complete range of services tailored to developing internationally as well as a major support system around the world.
In our French network (Crédit Agricole Regional Banks and LCL), more than 900 relationship managers and 450 International Trade Experts are mobilised to provide customised solutions to their customers' needs thanks to dedicated back offices in the region.
The Group's "International Desks" network supports client companies in more than 90 countries, providing them with expertise in local business practices and access to a wide range of banking services. This is all thanks to Crédit Agricole Group's international locations and a network of major foreign banks with which the group has partnership agreements.
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Our main partners

Since 2007 Crédit Agricole Group has developed an exclusive partnership with ALTIOS, the leading French private equity firm in international development consulting. ALTIOS offers services that facilitate the development of internationalisation strategies, prospection and support to implement projects for our corporate clients.

Crédit Agricole Group and Bpifrance signed a partnership agreement in 2015 aimed at strengthening their collaboration in supporting French companies abroad (particularly through co-financing and risk sharing).


Crédit Agricole Group and Business France, the public agency at the service of the internationalisation of the French economy, solidified their historical ties by signing a partnership agreement in 2016.

The branches and subsidiaries of the Crédit Agricole Group throughout the world are members of the French CCIs abroad (CCIF). The International Desks of the Crédit Agricole Group collaborate regularly with the CCIF to provide our corporate clients with services facilitating their establishment in foreign markets.


All around France, Crédit Agricole Group's international trade experts collaborate with the CCI International network, a key player in the support system for company internationalisation.
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Savings Banks Finance Group
The Savings Banks Finance Group is one of the largest banking groups in the world. The decentralised structure of the Group is one of its main characteristics.
It means that the Savings Banks and their associated partners within the Savings Banks Finance Group are available all over Germany where they are needed by customers: in their locality. Proximity and expertise are two of the key factors in their success.
The Group established itself in the extremely competitive German financial market through innovative financial services. It has 50 million customers; three out of four businesses have a working relationship with a Savings Bank or a Landesbank, which equates to around two million businesses in total. The financial group’s solidarity is also reflected in a sustained responsibility towards society, the regions and, above all, the people living in the regions. It has sponsored a variety of cultural, social and community activities in Germany for many years.
Banks around the World
Below is a list of the largest banks in the world ranked by total assets. For the sixth year in a row, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is the largest bank in the world with assets of 26.087 trillion yuan (US$4 trillion). It is also the world's largest bank by deposits, loans, number of customers and employees. Four of the top 5 largest banks are Chinese financial institutions. The top 10 banks hold combined assets of about $28 trillion. The top 100 banks include 20 Chinese banks, 10 US banks, 6 UK banks, 6 French banks, 9 Japanese banks, 6 German banks, 5 Canadian banks, 5 South Korean banks, 5 Brazilian banks, 4 banks from Australia, 3 from Sweden, 3 from Italy, 3 from Spain, 3 from Netherlands, 2 from Singapore and 2 banks from Switzerland.
Rank | Bank | Country | Total assets, US$b | Balance sheet |
1 | Industrial & Commercial Bank of China | China | 4,005.58 | 12/31/2017 |
2 | China Construction Bank Corp | China | 3,397.13 | 12/31/2017 |
3 | Agricultural Bank of China | China | 3,232.68 | 12/31/2017 |
4 | Bank of China | China | 2,989.16 | 12/31/2017 |
5 | Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group | Japan | 2,773.82 | 12/31/2017 |
6 | JPMorgan Chase & Co | USA | 2,533.60 | 12/31/2017 |
7 | HSBC Holdings | UK | 2,521.77 | 12/31/2017 |
8 | BNP Paribas | France | 2,348.11 | 12/31/2017 |
9 | Bank of America | USA | 2,281.23 | 12/31/2017 |
10 | China Development Bank | China | 2,201.86 | 12/31/2016 |
11 | Credit Agricole Group | France | 2,112.04 | 12/31/2017 |
12 | Wells Fargo | USA | 1,951.76 | 12/31/2017 |
13 | Japan Post Bank | Japan | 1,873.50 | 12/31/2017 |
14 | Mizuho Financial Group | Japan | 1,850.10 | 12/31/2017 |
15 | Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group | Japan | 1,847.47 | 12/31/2017 |
16 | Citigroup Inc | USA | 1,843.06 | 12/31/2017 |
17 | Deutsche Bank | Germany | 1,766.85 | 12/31/2017 |
18 | Banco Santander | Spain | 1,730.08 | 12/31/2017 |
19 | Barclays PLC | UK | 1,528.89 | 12/31/2017 |
20 | Societe Generale | France | 1,527.43 | 12/31/2017 |
21 | Groupe BPCE | France | 1,509.13 | 12/31/2017 |
22 | Bank of Communications | China | 1,387.79 | 12/31/2017 |
23 | Postal Savings Bank of China | China | 1,383.85 | 12/31/2017 |
24 | Lloyds Banking Group | UK | 1,095.64 | 12/31/2017 |
25 | Royal Bank of Canada | Canada | 1,028.72 | 12/31/2017 |
26 | ING Groep NV | Netherlands | 1,013.65 | 12/31/2017 |
27 | Toronto-Dominion Bank | Canada | 1,006.98 | 12/31/2017 |
28 | Norinchukin Bank | Japan | 1,006.70 | 12/31/2017 |
29 | UniCredit S.p.A. | Italy | 1,002.36 | 12/31/2017 |
30 | Royal Bank of Scotland Group | UK | 995.729 | 12/31/2017 |
31 | Industrial Bank Co. Ltd | China | 985.646 | 12/31/2017 |
32 | China Merchants Bank | China | 966.117 | 12/31/2017 |
33 | Intesa Sanpaolo | Italy | 954.531 | 12/31/2017 |
34 | Credit Mutuel | France | 950.531 | 12/31/2016 |
35 | UBS Group AG | Switzerland | 937.802 | 12/31/2017 |
36 | Shanghai Pudong Development Bank | China | 942.777 | 12/31/2017 |
37 | Goldman Sachs Group | USA | 916.787 | 12/31/2017 |
38 | Agricultural Development Bank of China | China | 873.419 | 06/30/2017 |
39 | China Minsheng Banking Corp | China | 859.407 | 09/30/2017 |
40 | Morgan Stanley | USA | 851.733 | 12/31/2017 |
41 | China CITIC Bank Corp | China | 832.996 | 09/30/2017 |
42 | BBVA | Spain | 826.597 | 12/31/2017 |
43 | Credit Suisse Group | Switzerland | 815.587 | 12/31/2017 |
44 | Bank of Nova Scotia | Canada | 754.509 | 12/31/2017 |
45 | Commonwealth Bank of Australia | Australia | 750.775 | 12/31/2017 |
46 | Rabobank Group | Netherlands | 722.301 | 12/31/2017 |
47 | Australia & New Zealand Banking Group | Australia | 700.352 | 09/30/2017 |
48 | Nordea | Sweden | 695.795 | 12/31/2017 |
49 | European Investment Bank | Luxembourg | 686.653 | 12/31/2016 |
50 | Westpac Banking Corp | Australia | 664.878 | 09/30/2017 |
51 | Standard Chartered Plc | UK | 663.501 | 12/31/2017 |
52 | National Australia Bank | Australia | 615.516 | 09/30/2017 |
53 | China Everbright Bank | China | 627.737 | 12/31/2017 |
54 | DZ Bank AG | Germany | 605.640 | 12/31/2017 |
55 | Bank of Montreal | Canada | 578.530 | 12/31/2017 |
56 | Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings | Japan | 569.949 | 12/31/2017 |
57 | Danske Bank | Denmark | 569.335 | 12/31/2017 |
58 | KfW Group | Germany | 565.392 | 12/31/2017 |
59 | Commerzbank | Germany | 541.434 | 12/31/2017 |
60 | State Bank of India | India | 534.903 | 12/31/2017 |
61 | Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) | Italy | 496.740 | 06/30/2017 |
62 | The Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank) | China | 491.888 | 12/31/2016 |
63 | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | Canada | 483.791 | 12/31/2017 |
64 | Ping An Bank | China | 481.750 | 09/30/2017 |
65 | ABN AMRO Group NV | Netherlands | 470.965 | 12/31/2017 |
66 | Sberbank of Russia | Russia | 470.181 | 12/31/2017 |
67 | U.S. Bancorp | USA | 462.040 | 12/31/2017 |
68 | CaixaBank | Spain | 459.005 | 12/31/2017 |
69 | Itau Unibanco Holding SA | Brazil | 437.410 | 12/31/2017 |
70 | Resona Holdings | Japan | 434.653 | 12/31/2017 |
71 | Banco do Brasil SA | Brazil | 413.147 | 12/31/2017 |
72 | KB Financial Group | South Korea | 409.010 | 12/31/2017 |
73 | Shinhan Financial Group | South Korea | 399.197 | 12/31/2017 |
74 | Nomura Holdings | Japan | 394.791 | 12/31/2017 |
75 | DBS Group Holdings | Singapore | 387.252 | 12/31/2017 |
76 | Caixa Economica Federal | Brazil | 383.261 | 09/30/2017 |
77 | PNC Financial Services Group | USA | 380.768 | 12/31/2017 |
78 | Hua Xia Bank | China | 375.543 | 09/30/2017 |
79 | Bank of New York Mellon Corp | USA | 371.758 | 12/31/2017 |
80 | Shinkin Central Bank (SCB) | Japan | 371.313 | 12/31/2017 |
81 | Capital One Financial Corporation | USA | 365.693 | 12/31/2017 |
82 | Banco Bradesco SA | Brazil | 365.493 | 12/31/2017 |
83 | KBC Group NV | Belgium | 350.186 | 12/31/2017 |
84 | Bank of Beijing | China | 349.354 | 09/30/2017 |
85 | Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) | Singapore | 340.297 | 12/31/2017 |
86 | Hana Financial Group | South Korea | 337.191 | 12/31/2017 |
87 | Svenska Handelsbanken | Sweden | 336.691 | 12/31/2017 |
88 | NongHyup Financial Group | South Korea | 333.156 | 06/30/2017 |
89 | Woori Bank | South Korea | 332.893 | 12/31/2017 |
90 | DnB ASA | Norway | 328.267 | 12/31/2017 |
91 | China Guangfa Bank (CGB) | China | 314.401 | 12/31/2016 |
92 | Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken | Sweden | 311.457 | 12/31/2017 |
93 | Nationwide Building Society | UK | 306.963 | 09/30/2017 |
94 | Cathay Financial Holding | Taiwan | 293.554 | 09/30/2017 |
95 | Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg | Germany | 285.092 | 12/31/2017 |
96 | La Banque Postale | France | 277.278 | 12/31/2017 |
97 | Bank of Shanghai | China | 270.242 | 09/30/2017 |
98 | Swedbank | Sweden | 269.238 | 12/31/2017 |
99 | United Overseas Bank (UOB) | Singapore | 268.230 | 12/31/2017 |
100 | Bank of Jiangsu | China | 266.798 | 09/30/2017 |
101 | Banco Sabadell | Spain | 265.145 | 12/31/2017 |
102 | Bayerische Landesbank | Germany | 264.668 | 06/30/2017 |
103 | Erste Group Bank AG | Austria | 264.319 | 12/31/2017 |
104 | Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) | Brazil | 262.087 | 09/30/2017 |
105 | Industrial Bank of Korea | South Korea | 256.641 | 12/31/2017 |
106 | Bankia | Spain | 256.261 | 12/31/2017 |
107 | Charles Schwab Corp | USA | 243.274 | 12/31/2017 |
108 | Dexia | Belgium | 238.847 | 06/30/2017 |
109 | State Street Corp | USA | 238.425 | 12/31/2017 |
110 | Raiffeisen Schweiz | Switzerland | 233.677 | 06/30/2017 |
111 | Nykredit Group | Denmark | 229.493 | 12/31/2017 |
112 | Fubon Financial Holding | Taiwan | 225.911 | 09/30/2017 |
113 | VTB Bank | Russia | 225.604 | 12/31/2017 |
114 | China ZheShang Bank (CZBank) | China | 223.148 | 06/30/2017 |
115 | BB&T Corporation | USA | 221.642 | 12/31/2017 |
116 | Qatar National Bank | Qatar | 221.180 | 12/31/2017 |
117 | National Bank of Canada | Canada | 208.408 | 12/31/2017 |
118 | Suntrust Banks | USA | 205.962 | 12/31/2017 |
119 | Korea Development Bank | South Korea | 205.145 | 12/31/2016 |
120 | Belfius | Belgium | 201.192 | 12/31/2017 |
The exchange rate on December 30, 2017.
Last Updated: April 2, 2018
Copyright © 2011 - 2018, All Rights Reserved.
Top 10 Biggest Banks in the World
Like every other industry, banks are getting bigger.
While the local bank isn’t quite long gone, it’s becoming far more rare in an era dominated by major institutions such as Chase, (JPM) - Get JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Report TD Bank (TD) - Get Toronto-Dominion Bank Report and Bank of America (BAC) - Get Bank of America Corp Report. As the Federal Reserve found in one study, between 2000 and 2014 more than 3,000 small banks closed (those handling assets of less than $100 million.) In that same period, the overall amount of money held by the U.S. banking system increased, with almost all growth among institutions holding more than $10 billion in assets.
If that doesn’t drive the point home, this chart by the Institute for Local Self Reliance should do the job. In 1980 the U.S. had more than 20,000 registered banks. That number has declined every single year since.
Customers are increasingly likely to rely on the large banks that can provide national or even global services, and which can offer more competitive interest rates. Meanwhile, from the perspective of banks, consolidation has become a major asset as well. Today’s banks focus on big-budget items such as digital banking, mobile apps and tech security. These programs cost substantial amounts of money to get right, but they’re also expenses that tend to scale well. An app can serve 1 million consumers almost as easily as it can serve 1,000, after all, making economies of scale an increasingly essential part of modern banking.
That said, economies only scale so far. Larger banks do make more money, but they aren’t necessarily any more efficient. As economists from the Kansas City Federal Reserve found, “while the smallest banks can benefit significantly from growth, the advantages of growth become progressively smaller until they are exhausted. For most midsized community banks, the increase in returns relative to size is modest; these banks would need large increases in size to realize significantly higher returns.”
In other words, at a certain point big banks make more money not because they necessarily have a better business model but because they are, well, just plain bigger. And here are the 10 biggest in the world as measured by total assets.
(Data as measured by the industry reporting magazine S&P Global.)
Top 10 Biggest Banks in the World
10. Credit Agricole Group
Nation: France
Assets: $2.12 trillion
For a nation approximately the size of Texas, France is surprisingly well represented on this list. In no small part this is thanks to the success of the European Union. For all of the currency zone’s flaws, it has succeeded in creating the second largest economy in the world after the U.S.
France has profited well off of this relationship. As one of the largest economies in the EU, France and French banks have capitalized on their already strong global standing. This brings Credit Agricole, a bank which has its origins extending agricultural loans, onto our list.
9. BNP Paribas SA
Nation: France
Assets: $2.33 trillion
This bank was formed from a merger of two large institutions in France, the Banque Nationale de Paris, or BNP, and Paribas. This is the second of three European institutions on our list, a major bank that operates on most continents and offers retail and depositor banking services.
8. Bank of America
Nation: U.S.
Assets: $2.35 trillion
For many U.S. consumers, Bank of America (BAC) - Get Bank of America Corp Report might be the single most recognizable name on our list. While all of the entries here are depositor and retail institutions, B of A has made a particularly aggressive push for consumer-level business. They have carved out a significant retail presence where other banks have begun focusing more on deregulated investments and business lending.
Combined with the fact that this is only one of two U.S. banks on our list, this has made B of A one of the largest banks to be a household name.
7. HSBC Holdings
Nation: United Kingdom
Assets: $2.55 trillion
In a more fair and just world, HSBC would stand for Her majesty’s Secret Banking Corporation. This institution would exclusively fund suave espionage services, it would only ever need to employ Daniel Craig and Idris Elba (with Scarlett Johansson on secondment), and its board of directors would comprise Sean Connery and three martinis.
Alas, we live in a fallen world. In fact, HSBC stands for the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. It has its origins in the British trade with China and its East Asian colonies, and today the company operates in more than 60 countries around the world.
6. JP Morgan Chase
Nation: U.S.
Assets: $2.62 trillion
If you would like to understand why every serious economist and politician in the U.S. has at least one eye on China, here’s a data point. Fifty years ago, American institutions would have dominated a list like this. Today, JP Morgan Chase is the last American entry and it doesn’t even merit the top five. All but one of the rest are based in China.
Does that mean America’s era has ended? Probably not. After all, no matter what country you’re in, when someone conducts research like this, they measure each bank in U.S. dollars. America’s economy and money is still the standard by which the rest of the world is judged, and there are far more reasons for that than simple size.
5. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
Nation: Japan
Assets: $2.81 trillion
The Mitsubishi bank (MUFG) - Get Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Sponsored ADR Report comes from another merger. In fact this institution was formed relatively recently out of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank. For a brief period in the 1990s this was even the largest bank in the world.
Mitsubishi bank works mostly in Japan, but almost 40% of its business does come from outside the country. This gives it a prominent place on the world stage, while keeping most of its assets much closer to home.
4. Bank of China Ltd
Nation: China
Assets: $3.09 trillion
The remaining four entries on this list are all based out of China, and the majority of their holdings are Chinese assets. There are two things to understand about this.
First, this unambiguously represents the modern success of the Chinese economy. In a single generation China grew from an agrarian nation struggling to feed its own people into the world’s third largest economy (behind the U.S. and the European Union).
Second, this represents the difference between assets on deposit and size of an economy. Chinese banks hold more assets on deposit than American banks. By some measures, Chinese banks hold approximately $27 trillion on deposit compared ( to roughly $13 trillion in U.S. institutions. This is true despite the fact that the American economy is still about 40% larger by GDP than China’s.
3. Agricultural Bank of China
Nation: China
Assets: $3.28 trillion
Any lists of the 10 largest banks in the world will note the presence of the Agricultural Bank of China, one of the country’s Big Four. These institutions, all four of which occupy the top slots of our list, are the state-owned banks of the Chinese economy.
This makes them somewhat asymmetrical to western institutions. While the Big Four Chinese banks are the largest in the world by assets on deposit, in large part this is because they are given special roles in that country’s economy. This has led to a hyper-concentration in banking assets. Each of the Big Four banks is worth three or four times as much as the next largest institution, and each (very roughly) corresponds to an assigned role in the economy.
This has generally led China to have fewer, but larger, banks than the west overall. It also makes lists like this something of an inaccurate comparison. In part, JP Morgan and Bank of America serve customers who tend to keep less money on deposit. However in equal measure, these banks don’t have the advantage of government ownership and subsidy.
2. China Construction Bank
Nation: China
Assets: $3.37 trillion
The China Construction Bank, as its name suggests, is generally intended to finance new construction, municipal works, infrastructure and other forms of capital-level projects. As with the other Chinese entries on this list, it is state owned and sponsored.
1. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China
Nation: China
Assets: $4.02 trillion
Here we have it, the largest bank in the world.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the largest of the Big Four. It is the largest financial institution by volume of deposits and assets, and also one of the biggest companies in the world. As with the other Big Four, this is a state-owned and subsidized company, meaning that it is difficult to disentangle the assets of the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China from those of the Chinese government overall. Calling this the world’s largest bank is a little bit like listing the U.S. Army as the world’s largest security operation; accurate, but somewhat unfair to the Pinkertons.
This bank opened its doors in 1984. It plays a role closer to that of a general lender in the Chinese economy although, as the name suggests, its focus was originally on financing industrial, manufacturing and other commercial enterprises.
Eric Reed is a freelance journalist based in Boston.
UK Press Release: HSBC only European bank in global top 10
28 June 2021: HSBC is the only European bank in the global top 10 list for the 10th year running, according to The Banker’s latest ranking of the Top 1000 World Banks (see Table 1). The ranking is based on Tier 1 capital, a key measure of banking strength.
The UK’s largest bank, which has strategically shifted capital to areas garnering higher returns such as Asia and wealth management, moved up one position to 8th in the global ranking and increased its Tier 1 capital by 7.96%, to $160.2bn. It also recorded a 9.91% increase in assets.
Of the top five UK banks, Lloyds Banking Group (ranked 3rd) recorded the highest percentage increase in Tier 1 capital (15.27%) year-on-year, while Barclays (ranked 2nd) topped the group in asset growth (19.93%).
However, all five banks saw declines in pre-tax profits year-on-year: -34.2% for HSBC; -28.72% for Barclays; -71.72% for Lloyds Banking Group; and -56.56% for Standard Chartered (ranked 5th). NatWest Group, in fourth place in the country ranking, moved from profit to loss.
Overall, the UK saw an aggregate 53.08% drop in profits across its banks included in the ranking.
Joy Macknight, editor of The Banker, said: “The UK banking industry has faced significant headwinds over the course of the past year, with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit uncertainty weighing profitability down. Despite the challenging environment, the UK’s banking sector remains the fifth largest in the world, with aggregate Tier 1 capital of $437.5bn, underpinned by London’s position as a leading global financial centre.”
Western Europe had another difficult year due to low economic growth and the interest rate environment hitting the profitability of the region’s biggest lenders. Of the largest European economies, banks’ aggregate pre-tax profits shrank by 43.71% in Germany, 75.72% in Italy and 47.67% in the Netherlands, while France experienced a more modest decline of 11.61%. Spain recorded negative pre-tax profits at an aggregate level, with two of its largest banks, Banco Santander and Bankia, moving from profit to loss in this period (see Table 2).
The western European region now contributes 10.30% of the world’s profits, based on net income data, down from 16.37% last year and nearly one third a decade ago. Return on capital is the lowest for any region – at 3.10% (see Table 3).
Overall, the world’s largest banks have withstood the pressures from the Covid-19 pandemic, adding 12.7% to their collective Tier 1 capital to reach the highest ever level of $9.9 trillion. In addition, total assets increased by 16.0%, to $148.6 trillion, while the deposit base expanded by 17.1%, to $93.9 trillion.
Compared to the global financial crisis in 2007-09, it appears that there is more resiliency in the banking sector. Overall, the Top 1000 World Banks increased the allowance for loan losses (or the reserve to cover bad debts) by 25.8%, to $1.7 trillion, which is a larger increase than the aggregate loan book, which grew by 11.4%. However, as many jurisdictions have extended their Covid-19 support packages into 2021, the true impact of the pandemic has not yet hit the banks’ loan books.
Furthermore, while the Top 1000’s combined profits dropped by 19.2% year-on-year, it is not as catastrophic when compared to the fallout from the financial crisis, when profits plummeted 85.3% in 2009.
Joy Macknight, added: “Although profits have shrunk across the globe and many banks’ balance sheets are loaded with allowances for expected loan losses, the world’s banking industry has held up remarkably well and is better capitalised than ever before.”
China continues to be the engine of growth for the world’s banking industry, increasing aggregate Tier 1 capital and total assets by 18.6% and 18.4%, respectively. China, with 144 banks in the ranking, now holds almost double the amount of Tier 1 Capital ($2.96 trillion) as the US ($1.58 trillion), with 178 banks in the ranking. In addition, profits continued to grow in China by 5.2% year-on-year, while falling by 31.5% in the US and 41.8% in western Europe (see Table 4).
The Asia-Pacific region generated more than half (55.1%) of the world’s profits, based on net income data, up from 43.5% in the 2020 ranking, and was the only region to increase its share of profits.
-ends-
Notes
Tier 1 capital is the core measure of a bank’s financial strength under the Basel regulatory framework.
Contact
For more information, please contact:
Henry Conner I [email protected] / 07709 577073
Niki Wheeler I [email protected]
Mark Staniland I [email protected]
About The Banker
The Banker is the world’s premier banking and finance resource, providing global financial intelligence since 1926.
The Banker is the key source of data and analysis for the industry. The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking has been setting the industry benchmark since 1970, providing comprehensive intelligence about the health and wealth of the banking sector. To find out more visit www.thebanker.com/top1000. The Banker is a service from the Financial Times.
Joy Macknight is the editor of The Banker. She joined the publication in 2015 as transaction banking and technology editor and became editor in March 2021. She has been a financial and technology journalist for more than 15 years.
About the Financial Times
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of more than one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.
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