Biggest Global Banks 2015

ANDREW CUNNINGHAM

Chinese banks are assuming an increasingly important position among the world’s biggest banks. But European banks are still the largest geographic grouping in our rankings.

THE BIG GET EVEN BIGGER

At the end of 2014, the first, second and fourth-largest banks in the world, ranked by assets, were Chinese. HSBC was the third-placed bank.

The 10 Chinese banks included in last year’s list of the world’s Biggest Global Banks have all moved up the rankings (with the exception of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which was first last year and retains that position this year). Industrial and Commercial Bank of China remains the only bank in the world with more than
$3 trillion in assets at the end of 2014. China Minsheng Bank enters the top-50 ranking for the first time this year, taking the total number of Chinese banks in the top 50 to 11.

Despite the increasing importance of Chinese banks, European banks still make up the largest geographic group within the 50 Biggest Global Banks. Twenty-one European banks from eight different countries feature in the 2015 list, two fewer than in 2014: KfW and Danske Bank dropped off the list this year.

The profile of the 21 European banks that feature among the world’s 50 largest is very different from the profile of those European banks that feature among the world’s 50 safest. European banks hold the first nine places in the ranking of the World’s Safest Banks, but none of these now features among the world’s biggest. (Last year, KfW was placed in both rankings.) Four Nordic banks feature among the World’s Safest this year, but only one, Nordea, makes the Biggest Global Banks.

The United States contributes seven banks to the biggest 50 ranking this year, one more than last year, as a result of the inclusion of Prudential Financial. Japan and Australia contribute four each and Canada three—in all cases, the same number and the same banks as last year.

The combined total assets of the biggest 50 banks in the world was $68,994 billion at the end of 2014, marginally higher than the $68,488 recorded a year earlier. The increase in the size of Chinese banks was offset by declining asset sizes at many eurozone banks (the euro lost 10% of its value against the dollar during 2014) and Japanese banks (for whom a similar devaluation took place).

In this year’s rankings the 50th-placed bank, China Minsheng Bank, had assets of $656 billion. In 2014’s rankings, the 50th-biggest bank, Danske Bank, had assets of $596 billion.

BIGGEST GLOBAL BANKS 2015
Rank	Bank	Country	Total Assets USD Mln
1	Industrial and Commercial Bank of China	China	3,368,190
2	China Construction Bank	China	2,736,416
3	HSBC	United Kingdom	2,634,139
4	Agricultural Bank of China	China	2,610,582
5	JPMorgan Chase	United States	2,573,126
6	BNP Paribas	France	2,522,471
7	Bank of China	China	2,492,463
8	Mitsubishi UFJ Financial**	Japan	2,391,680
9	Crédit Agricole	France	2,140,055
10	Barclays	United Kingdom	2,119,410
11	Bank of America	United States	2,104,534
12	Deutsche Bank	Germany	2,074,424
13	Citigroup	United States	1,842,530
14	Wells Fargo	United States	1,687,155
15	China Development Bank	China	1,685,954
16	The Royal Bank of Scotland	United Kingdom	1,640,023
17	Societe Generale	France	1,588,163
18	Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	Japan	1,542,204
19	Banco Santander	Spain	1,537,327
20	Mizuho	Japan	1,534,259
21	Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe (Sparkasse)	Germany	1,523,129
22	Groupe BPCE	France	1,485,126
23	Lloyds Bank	United Kingdom	1,334,316
24	ING	Netherlands	1,205,361
25	UBS	Switzerland	1,074,187
26	UniCredit	Italy	1,024,909
27	Bank of Communications	China	1,024,399
28	Credit Suisse	Switzerland	931,617
29	Goldman Sachs	United States	856,240
30	TD Bank Group	Canada	837,909
31	Royal Bank of Canada	Canada	834,191
32	Rabobank	Netherlands	826,862
33	Nordea	Sweden	812,604
34	Morgan Stanley	United States	801,510
35	Intesa Sanpaolo	Italy	784,785
36	Norinchukin Bank	Japan	779,396
37	China Merchants Bank	China	773,301
38	National Australia Bank	Australia	773,062
39	BBVA	Spain	767,199
40	Prudential Financial	United States	766,655
41	Commonwealth Bank of Australia	Australia	745,527
42	Standard Chartered	United Kingdom	725,914
43	Industrial Bank	China	720,118
44	Bank of Nova Scotia	Canada	714,560
45	Shanghai Pudong Development Bank	China	685,721
46	Commerzbank	Germany	676,956
47	China Citic Bank	China	676,387
48	ANZ Group	Australia	675,733
49	Westpac	Australia	674,639
50	China Minsheng Bank	China	656,175

Source for asset figures: Fitch Solutions, except for ** from bank’s financial statements