Mergers work through with little change and aggregate Tier 1 capital is up.

Our rankings reveal no evidence of a bursting Asian bubble as China, and India to a lesser extent, power onwards.

Our listing reveals that retail continues to drive banking sector growth, while low household credit levels remain enticing to western European institutions.

Following successful IPOs by ICBC and Bank of China in 2006, the two banks return to the gold and silver positions in this year’s listing. Terry Baker-Self reports.

The Banker launched its second annual Top 100 Chinese Banks listing in both English and Chinese on June 5 in Beijing. The event was attended by governor of The People’s Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, who received his award as The Banker’s Central Banker of the Year 2007 in Asia, and by Pan Gongsheng, secretary of the board of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, who picked up the bank’s award for The Banker’s Deal of the Year 2007.

M&As have further cut the number of rankable entries in our listing, which remains dominated by Panama.

South Africa’s ‘big five’ lead The Banker’s Top 100 African banks listing while the impact of Nigeria’s new regulations on bank capitalisation has yet to filter through.

Yet again, Saudi Arabia’s banks dominate The Banker’s Top 100 Arab banks listing but, as Stephen Timewell reports, there is good news across the region.

Independents stay ahead of the pack, acquisitions continue apace and rationalisation is under way.

Despite the massive market correction earlier in the year, there is no sign of Gulf banks’ growth abating as they continue to reap the benefits of the region’s oil-fuelled bonanza.