Brazilian and Mexican banks maintain Latam lead

Financial crises or not, Brazilian banks have been consistently climbing up the rankings of the world's most solid lenders for the past decade. Whether state-owned or in private hands, they have taken advantage of the country's large and fast-growing market. Their ambitions are also growing and the top lenders are now planning to expand to serve Brazilians in neighbouring countries as well as the US.

So it comes as no surprise to see Brazilian giant Itaú Unibanco heading the Top 25 Latin American chart, seeing as it ranks an impressive 33rd on the global list. Its Tier 1 capital represents a very comfortable 9.5% of total assets while its return on assets is a considerable 3.3%, the second highest in the country after Citi's 7.93%. Citi (Brasil) does not feature in the Top 25 Latin American list because of its foreign ownership - the regional ranking only includes locally owned banks.

Another absent bank is Mexico's top lender, Banamex, again owned by Citi, which leaves Banco Inbursa as the top Mexican bank, ranking fifth in the Top 25 regional list. Despite Inbursa's Tier 1 capital shrinking more than 20% in the 2009 ranking, it grew almost 67.75% in this year's listing to $2892m, making it the highest-ranked Mexican bank (sixth) in the highest movers list.

Brazilian and Mexican banks tend to dominate the top 10 of the Latin American rankings, but this year Venezuelan lender Mercantil Servicios Financieros jumps five places to 10th position thanks to its 74.35% Tier 1 capital increase to $2207m. Such growth propels the bank from 422nd place in last year's global ranking to 291st, and makes it the fourth highest mover in the region.

Operating in a smaller market does not mean being a less relevant player, and Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay has shown just that. Its $843m Tier 1 capital sees the bank take 25th position, one place below Argentina's Banco Macro.

It should be noted that, although not present in the Top 25 regional list, two Guatemalan banks have entered the global rankings; Banco Industrial at 802nd and Banco de Desarrollo Rural at 919th. With Tier 1 capital on assets ratios of about 10% each and good levels of profits, it will be interesting to see how they fare in next year's rankings.

Top 25: Latin America ($m)

Highest Movers: Latin America ($m)

New Entrants: Latin America ($m)