Nothing seems to stand in the way of Brazilian banks, which this year occupy all top five spots in the Latin America ranking by Tier 1 capital. There are concerns that unprecedented bank lending growth may lead to a credit bubble in the country, but such fears are put in perspective by the percentage that lending represents within the country’s gross domestic product. This stands at about 50% and is still significantly lower than the 80% of Chile, which is often dubbed Latin America's most stable country.
Itaú Unibanco continues to hold first position in the regional list, but lost one place in the global ranking, sitting at number 34. Banco do Brasil, on the other hand, has overtaken Bradesco as second strongest Latin American bank and has climbed up to number 38 in the overall ranking, seven positions higher than last year. Banco Safra has also shown progress and its larger Tier 1 capital pushed the bank to fifth place in the regional list.
The highest movers table shows the banks that have improved their capital position the most in percentage terms. Latin America’s highest mover is another Brazilian lender, BRB Banco de Brasilia, with a 43.47% Tier 1 capital change. The second and third position in the highest movers ranking are taken by Belize Bank and Venezuela’s Mercantil Servicios Financieros with 40.02% and 39.53% growth of their Tier 1 capital, respectively.
Bancolombia has kept and strengthened its leading position in its home market and has climbed up the global ranking by seven positions, reaching number 241 in the Top 1000 listing – a sustained progression from 248th place in 2010 Top 1000 World Banks rankings, and 273rd in the 2009 global list.
It was a different story for Banco de Chile, which slipped from top locally owned bank in the country to number two, behind Banco de Credito e Inversiones. Banco de Credito e Inversiones is now 11th in the Latin America ranking with $2.22bn in Tier 1 capital; up more than 25% on the previous year.
The Banker’s increased research efforts resulted in large numbers of new entrants this year and records for Colombia’s Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Venezuela and Banco Bicentenario were obtained, among others. These three banks top the Latin America’s new entrants table with $2.26bn, $1.27bn and $793m in Tier 1 capital and $29.8bn, $20.4bn and $16.7bn in assets, respectively.
