Once again Chinese lenders dominate the top 20 banks by net interest income tables. In the 2015 ranking, however, their leading position is even more salient. Seven banks from China make the top 20, up from the six represented in 2014. Moreover, every single institution making a return to the table has recorded appreciable gains to their net interest income. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China leads the charge with a figure of $80.7bn, up from $72.7bn in the 2014 ranking. Similar gains are posted by China Construction Bank, once again in second position this year, and Agricultural Bank of China in third.
Beyond the dominance of Chinese banks, a notable absence in this year’s net interest income ranking is Germany’s Deutsche Bank. Despite taking 17th place in 2014, it has since been replaced by a number of newcomers to the ranking, including Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, China Merchants Bank and the US’s Capital One Financial Corp.
In terms of the top 20 banks by fee and commission income, the 2015 ranking closely mirrors last year’s. The big difference this year is that a number of high-profile banks have registered a year-on-year decline in income. Both JPMorgan and Bank of America, ranking number one and two, respectively, have seen marginal falls in fee and commission income, while it is a similar story for HSBC and UBS, both of which are in the top 10 this year.
In terms of trading income, some of the largest players have seen a decline. In particular, this is the case for UK lenders, with Barclays, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland all seeing their trading income fall in the 2015 ranking.
