Alpha Bank has warned that its potential merger partner Eurobank is more exposed to a Greek sovereign haircut, but the picture among both banks' foreign subsidiaries is a little different.

Out of the top five international financial centres with the largest aggregate volume of bank assets, a mix of European, Asian and North American centres occupy the top places in both the ranking that considers bank holdings incorporated in a certain jurisdiction, and the one of foreign-owned subsidiaries operating in the centre.

Latin American banks dominate the rankings for deposits with the central bank, providing large liquidity cushions in their countries if needed.

The market share of state-owned banks has grown at the top end of Russia’s banking sector, but private sector consolidation suggests this might be about to change.

Banks in emerging markets appear to run greater risks to achieve greater returns. But they may just be more conservative in assessing their risks.

US GAAP accounting standards may offer a misleading picture of leverage among five of the largest American banks relative to their European counterparts, because US banks net out derivatives exposure when calculating total assets.

Argentina’s banks had a record year in 2010, so it is no surprise to see its capital city at the top of the ROC and ROA rankings for IFCs.

Four of Africa’s top five most profitable banking markets are in east Africa, with oil producing Ghana from west Africa completing the set.

Returns on assets for Islamic banks are lagging those of the conventional banking sector in many of the core markets for sharia-compliant financial services. But there are some notable exceptions where Islamic finance is proving more profitable.

Nomura is one of the only major banking groups in Japan that does not rely on balance sheet lending to generate the bulk of its income.