Before lenders around the world begin compiling their 2015 annual financial statements, The Banker has put together a reminder of what their latest reports showed about the banking sector’s size across leading financial centres.
Unsurprisingly, Beijing leads with aggregate banking assets worth $14,664bn. Two Chinese banks, ICBC and China Construction Bank, are indeed the largest in the world by both assets and Tier 1 capital, according to The Banker Database. Its dominance is clear when looking at the size of second placed Tokyo, where lenders’ assets add up to about half of Beijing’s, at $7570bn. China’s other main financial centre, Shanghai, is in ninth place with $1983bn.
Western European flags colour most of the remaining top 10 positions, while North America is represented only by New York and Toronto, in fifth and seventh positions, respectively. London is the highest scoring among developed countries, thanks to its $6883bn, followed closely by Paris.
Moscow is the highest scoring financial centre from central and eastern Europe, while São Paulo is the largest Latin American hub in terms of banking assets.
Beijing leads when it comes to Tier 1 capital and pre-tax profits too. According to both parameters, New York is second best while Tokyo is third.
Western Europe is the region appearing most frequently in the top 50 ranking, with a total of 20 hubs, while Asia-Pacific counts 15 and North America six.
Only data for banks included in The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking was considered.