Over the past two years, the share of world banks’ profits generated by Asian institutions and those in western Europe has gone from reasonably evenly matched in 2010 to an almost 2:1 ratio last year. Now, the trend has worked its way to a logical, though still striking, conclusion. In 2012, banks from the Asia-Pacific region accounted for 54% of total global profits, while European institutions managed just 6%. Outside of Asia, North America managed the next biggest share, though at 23% it was hardly a close contest.
It is not, then, surprising to discover that you have to look outside of the top 10 banks by profits-on-average capital to find a non-emerging market bank, and even then it is in the form of American Express Company and Franklin Resources, neither of which, as card services provider and asset manager with a banking licence, are typical banks.
