NPLs are causing headaches for Monte dei Paschi di Siena and UBI Banca, but other Italian banks are faring better

Beijing confirms its dominance of the list of largest financial centres by banking assets, ahead of five more Chinese cities in the top 50.

At the end of April, Romania’s parliament approved a bill allowing borrowers to walk away from their mortgage debts. The Banker looks at mortgage holdings of the largest banks in the country.  

London edges out Singapore for inward FDI among IFCs, and is way out in front for outward investment.

Unprecedentedly, ICBC, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China are all in the top five banks by Tier 1 capital worldwide. But the good news does not end there for Chinese banks, with many putting in a strong performance further down the ranking.

A patchy economic performance in western Europe in 2015 saw its lenders slide further down the global rankings. HSBC is clinging on to its global top 10 position, however, while there is some good news for Greek and Italian lenders.

The global capital assets ratio average has improved on The Banker's 2015 ranking, with Bahrain's First Energy Bank leading the way.

Risk-weighted assets have jumped in North America as a result of the move among its banks to Basel III. Elsewhere, western Europe also saw an RWA-to-total assets ratio percentage rise.

As was the case in the 2015 ranking, China and the US are producing the fastest growing banks in the world, with the US's LegacyTexas Group leading the way in first, ahead of Taiwan's KGI Bank and China's Bank of Tangshan.