Largest Banks in the World – Banks are a financial intermediary that accept deposits and channel those deposits into lending activities, either directly or through capital markets. They connect customers with capital deficits to customers with capital surpluses. Banks are a pivotal part of the economy and throughout history have played an important part in the global economy’s collapse or success. Some banks have carved a niche for themselves and have emerged as global players due to their market capitalization, total assets, professional workforce, customer services and overseas expansions.
Banking is generally a highly regulated industry, and government restrictions on financial activities by banks have varied over time and location. The current set of global bank capital standards is called Basel II. In some countries such as Germany, banks have historically owned major stakes in industrial corporations while in other countries such as the United States, banks are prohibited from owning non-financial companies. In Japan, banks are usually the nexus of a cross-share holding entity known as the keiretsu. In Iceland, banks had very light regulation prior to the 2008 collapse. Banks not only help in the growth of the country economy but also give stability to capital market.
The world’s top ten banks come from the United States and China. Of the top ten world’s largest banks, four are Chinese and four belong to the United States. The United Kingdom and Australia account for one bank each.
List of World’s Largest Banks
|Rank||Bank||Headquaters||Market Capital, US$b (March 2016)|
|1||Wells Fargo & Co||San Francisco, California, U.S.||254.19B|
|2||Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)||Beijing, China||226.55B|
|3||JP Morgan Chase & Co||270 Park Avenue, New York, U.S.||217.79B|
|4||China Construction Bank||Beijing, China||155.97B|
|5||Agricultural Bank of China||Beijing, China||155.04B|
|6||Bank of China||Beijing, China||144.16B|
|7||Bank of America||North Carolina, U.S.||142.39B|
|8||HSBC Holdings||London, United Kingdom||128.91B|
|9||Citigroup Inc||New York City, NY, U.S||126.74B|
|10||Commonwealth Bank of Australia||Sydney, Australia||99.69B|
|11||Westpac Banking Corporation||Sydney, Australia||83.53B|
|12||Royal Bank of Canada||Montreal, Canada||83.36B|
|13||TorontoDominion Bank||Toronto, Canada||77.11B|
|14||Lloyds Banking Group||25 Gresham Street, London, United Kingdom||73.777|
|15||Banco Santander||Santander, Spain||71.16B|
|16||US Bancorp||Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States||70.24B|
|17||Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)||Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan||69.43B|
|18||Goldman Sachs Group||Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.||67.91B|
|19||UBS Group AG||Basel, Switzerland||65.33B|
|20||BNP Paribas||Boulevard des Italiens, Paris, France||62.60B|
|21||China Merchants Bank||Shenzhen, China||59.17B|
|22||Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)||Toronto, Ontario, Canada||56.62B|
|23||Australia & New Zealand Banking (ANZ)||833 Collins Street, Docklands, Melbourne, Australia||56.48B|
|24||National Australia Bank||Melbourne, Australia||56.27B|
|25||Bank of Communications||Shanghai, China||55.08B|
|26||Intesa Sanpaolo||Torre Intesa Sanpaolo, Turin, Italy||51.40B|
|27||Itau Unibanco Holding||São Paulo, Brazil||51.007|
|28||Morgan Stanley||New York City, New York, U.S||50.92B|
|29||Shanghai Pudong Development Bank||Shanghai, China||48.71B|
|30||HDFC Bank Limited||Mumbai, Maharashtra, India||48.45B|
|31||China Minsheng Banking Corp (CMBC)||Beijing, China||47.67B|
|33||Sumitomo Mitsui Financial||Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan||45.53B|
|34||Industrial Bank Co||Fuzhou, China||44.48B|
|35||Nordea Bank||Stockholm, Sweden||44.19B|
|36||PNC Financial Services||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S||43.30B|
|37||Banco Bradesco||Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil||40.87B|
|38||Bank of New York Mellon||New York City, New York, U.S||40.62B|
|39||Barclays Plc||One Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, England, United Kingdom||40.60B|
|40||Mizuho Financial Group||Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan||39.95B|
|41||China Citic Bank||Hong Kong, China||39.41B|
|42||Royal Bank of Scotland Group||Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom||38.94B|
|43||Bank of Montreal (BMO)||Toronto, Canada||38.05B|
|44||Capital One Financial||Tysons Corner, Virginia, U.S.||37.46B|
|45||Charles Schwab||San Francisco, California, U.S.||37.24B|
|46||Sberbank of Russia||Moscow, Russia||36.43B|
|47||Societe Generale||Paris, France||33.02B|
|48||Hang Seng Bank||83 Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong||32.49B|
|49||Credit Agricole SA||Montrouge, France||31.36B|
|50||Credit Suisse Group||Paradeplatz 8 Zürich, Switzerland||31.18B|
Following is the list of World’s Largest Banks ranked according to total Assets and market capitalization:
# Wells Fargo & Co
One of the premier banks in the United States, Wells Fargo and Company is rated as the largest bank in the world in terms of market capitalization, as of March 2016. It is also rated as the second largest bank in services such as debit cards, deposits and home mortgage servicing. Wells Fargo and Company made it to the 7th spot on the 2016 Forbes Magazine Global list of the world’s largest public companies. It also bagged the 27th spot on the Fortune 500 list of the largest companies in the United States.
Other laurels that the bank has bagged include the world’s 7th most respected company and the world’s 22nd most admired company. Wells Fargo and Company is based in San Francisco, which is based in the US state of California. As of March 2016, the market capitalization of the bank stood at $254.19 billion.
# Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
Based in Beijing, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China is the second largest in the world in terms of market capitalization, as of March 2016. Along with the Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Construction Bank, ICBC is counted among the ‘Big Four’ state-owned commercial banks. A relatively new bank, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China was founded on January 1, 1984.
The bank has achieved the distinction of bagging the first rank in both the Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking, and the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world’s biggest public companies. As of March 2016, the market capitalization of the bank stood at $226.55 billion.
# JP Morgan Chase & Co
The third largest bank in terms of Market capitalization, as of March 2016, is JP Morgan Chase & Co. Based in New York City, the United States, JP Morgan Chase & Co is a premium bank providing financial services. One of the most prominent banks in the United States, JP Morgan Chase & Co has carved a solid reputation around the world and has been rated by the Forbes magazine as the 6th largest public company based upon a composite ranking in the world. As of 2016, the market capitalization of the bank stood at $217.79 billion.
# China Construction Bank
A prominent bank with its headquarters in Xicheng District, Beijing, the China Construction Bank is one of the big four banks of the country. Standing 4th on the list of the world’s largest banks according to market capitalization, the bank has a strong presence in China with around 13,629 domestic branches. Its overseas branches are based in Luxembourg, Barcelona, New York City, Melbourne, Frankfurt, Auckland, Johannesburg, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Apart from this, China Construction Bank also has a wholly owned subsidiary in London, the United Kingdom. As of March 2016, the bank’s market capitalization was around $155.97 billion.
# Agricultural Bank of China
Founded in 1951, Agricultural Bank of China is a Beijing based bank. A part of the Big Four banks of China, the bank has a strong presence around the world and has branches in Hong Kong, London (UK), Tokyo (Japan), New York (The US), Frankfurt (Germany), Sydney (Australia), Seoul (South Korea), and Singapore. In 2015, Agricultural Bank of China was placed at the third spot in Forbes’ 13th annual Global 2000 ranking of the biggest, most powerful and most valuable companies in the world. As of 2016, the bank’s market was $155.04 billion.
# Bank of China
Another Chinese bank that has made it to the list of the world’s largest banks according to market capitalization is the Bank of China. Based in Xicheng District, Beijing, the bank was established in 1912. It is the sixth largest bank by market capitalization. The bank has been estimated to have the third highest proportion of interest payable of Chinese companies as of 2015.
# Bank of America
Bank of America is headquartered in the city of Charlotte in North Carolina. As of 2016, the bank’s market capitalization stands at $142.39 billion. It is also the 26th largest company in the United States by revenue as of 2016. The bank has around 210,516 employees who work at its various offices around the world.
# HSBC Holdings
HSBC is a British multinational and financial services company. Headquartered in London, the United Kingdom, HSBC’s market capitalization, as of March 2016, stood at $128.91billion. HSBC has a wide presence around the world with some 6,000 offices in 71 countries and territories. As of 2014, around 266,273 employees were working at its various offices around the world.
# Citigroup Inc
Based in Manhattan, New York, Citibank is an American multinational investment banking and financial services company. It was founded on June 16, 1812. As of March 2016, Citibank’s market capitalization was $126.74 billion. In the Fortune 500 list of 2016, Citigroup ranked 29th in size. As of 2015, Citibank had a workforce of 239,000 employed at its various offices around the world.
# Commonwealth Bank of Australia
An Australian bank with its headquarters in Sydney, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is one of the Big Four Banks of the country. With a market capitalization of $99.69 billion as of March 2016, the bank operates in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, USA, Asia, and Fiji. As of 2016, the bank had 45,129 employees.
Top 10 Banks in the World in 2015
|Rank||Bank||Country||Total Assets, US$b|
|1||Industrial & Commercial Bank of China||China||3427|
|2||China Construction Bank Corp||China||2831|
|3||Agricultural Bank of China||China||2745|
|4||Bank of China||China||2595|
|5||Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group||Japan||2456|
|7||JPMorgan Chase & Co||US||2352|
|9||Bank of America||US||2144|
|10||China Development Bank||China||1898|
Last Updated on : 21st September 2016