Swedish lenders top highest movers

Nordax Bank, which specialises in financial inclusion, has jumped into the Top 1000 World Banks ranking for the first time this year, spurred on by the recent NKr19.9bn ($1.98bn) acquisition of Bank Norwegian in 2021. With a rise of 204.3% to $1.26bn in Tier 1 capital, the bank enters the ranking at 716th place.

Swedish compatriot Klarna Bank is the second highest mover, with Tier 1 capital rising 163.1% to $2.15bn in 2021. It has moved up 343 positions to 517th in the main ranking. However, more recently the neobank announced it was laying off almost 10% of its workforce and entering a new round of funding that many predict will reduce its valuation by as much as third. Klarna’s CEO has announced that the fintech bank will focus less on growth and more on short-term profitability.

The only other Nordic bank on the top 25 highest movers by Tier 1 capital table is Norway’s SpareBank 1 Sorost-Norge, which comes in at 13th with a rise of 71.8% in Tier 1 capital.

For the second year in a row, the US has five banks among the 25 highest movers. New York-based commercial bank Dime Community Bancshares is in third place in the highest movers’ table. It added 144.3% to its Tier 1 capital, which stands at $1.04bn, giving it the boost to enter the main ranking in 782nd spot. Other US lenders in the table include SVP Financial Group, with a 110.7% surge in Tier 1 moving it up 86 places to 116th overall; BancorpSouth, with a 100.1% increase, which moves it up 197 places to 349th; Independent Bank Corp, with a 66.6% rise, improving its position by 170 spots to 549th overall; and Nicolet Bankshares, which added 56.9% to its Tier 1, allowing it to jump into the ranking at 972nd place.

The only other bank from the Americas in the highest movers’ list is Brazil’s Banco Inter, which increased Tier 1 capital by 140.9% to $1.43bn. It leapt from 969th to 672nd position.

Iran’s Karafarin Bank is among the top five highest movers, improving its Tier 1 capital position by 133.7%; it joins the main ranking in 887th place, after being absent from the Top 1000 since 2014. The bank has been part of a group of 18 Iranian banks that were subjected to sanctions by the then US president Donald Trump in 2020 as part of expanding its economic pressure campaign against Tehran ahead of the US general election that year.

Iran banks figure three more times in the highest movers’ table, with Bank Pasargad coming in eighth with a rise of 102.3%, Bank Mellat in 10th place with an 87.3% increase, and Bank Keshavarzi (Agri Bank) in 21st place with a rise of 52.72%.

The only other bank in the Middle East in the table is from Qatar. Masraf Al Rayan ranks 18th on the highest movers’ list, reporting a 56.6% jump in Tier 1 capital.

Several neobanks have graced the highest movers’ table this year. Australia’s Judo Bank is the fastest growing in Asia-Pacific, coming in seventh in the table. It recorded a rise of 108.5% in Tier 1 capital, joining the Top 1000 ranking for the first time in 890th position. KakaoBank from South Korea, places 11th in the highest movers’ table, jumping 147 spots to 317th. China’s WeBank is right behind KakaoBank, with a rise of 76.6% in Tier 1 capital.

In total, China had three banks on the top 25 highest movers’ table. In addition to WeBank, Bank of Jiaxing sits in 23rd place, with a 50.5% increase, and Tianjin Binhai Rural Commercial Bank coming in at 24th, with a 50.1% rise in Tier 1 capital.

Angola’s Banco Angolano de Investimentos (BAI) is the only African bank to have a presence in the highest movers’ table. BAI improved its Tier 1 by 67.6% to join the Top 1000 in 913th position. 

Top 25 highest movers