Top 1000 World Banks 2022

If banks, along with everyone else, were hoping the disruption wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic would give way in 2022 to a steady global economic reopening and recovery, the events of recent months have decisively put paid to that notion.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has amplified supply chain challenges and commodity squeezes. Beyond the broader economic impact, it will create particular challenges in the months and years ahead for banks active in and with exposure to Russia and Ukraine, as they grapple with operational challenges and the beefed-up sanctions regime.

But even before the war began in February, there were already rumblings of global inflationary pressures and incoming economic turbulence. And with central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and the Bank of England, now engaged in a clear programme of interest rate increases while beginning to wind down stimulus, it is evident we are entering a new economic phase.

For banks, this is not necessarily bad news; indeed, profitability in the era of low interest rates has been a major challenge. The data for 2021 (the full-financial year data the 2022 Top 1000 World Banks ranking is based on) points to a significant recovery in profitability compared to last year, when banks collectively booked hundreds of billions of dollars in impairment charges, expecting significant loan losses due to Covid-19 disruption.

Top 1000 aggregates

Bounceback

Aggregate return on assets in the Top 1000 now stands at 0.75%, compared to 0.51% last year, broadly in line with where it was in 2020’s Top 1000 results (based on full-year data from 2019). Profits as a percentage of Tier 1 capital has also jumped from 7.57% last year to 11.09% this year, higher than the figure for 2020. In dollar-and-cents terms, aggregate pre-tax profits reached $1.44tn — the highest figure ever recorded in the Top 1000. This shows a 53.7% year-on-year increase and a 24.1% increase on 2020.

However, as our analysis shows, it is unclear to what extent profitability has improved in a meaningful sense. The impact of Covid-19 economic disruption on banks’ loan books has been less severe than expected, in large part due to major central bank and fiscal stimulus packages. As a result, banks have benefitted from lower-than-expected impairment charges, which has boosted their profits. But it remains to be seen what shape banks are truly in following the pandemic and what kind of springboard that will offer in responding to current market conditions as stimulus packages are unwound.

Tier 1 capital grows

Looking beyond profits and profitability, the overall resilience of the global financial system continues to look secure, with aggregate Tier 1 capital continuing its upwards march. The minimum Tier 1 capital of a bank within the Top 1000 now stands at $556m, up from $547m last year. Aggregate Tier 1 capital topped $10tn for the first time, hitting $10.38tn — a 4.7% increase compared to last year. Aggregate Tier 1 assets also hit their highest-ever level, growing 3.8% year-on-year to hit $154.21tn. However, the growth rate of both Tier 1 capital and assets has slowed significantly compared to last year. Between 2020 and 2021 aggregate Tier 1 capital rose by 12.7%, and assets by 16.0%.

There are some significant regional disparities. While Tier 1 capital grew by 9.1% for Asia-Pacific to hit $5.19tn (the first time it has topped $5tn for any one region), in western Europe it decreased by 3.6%, to $2.37tn. In North America, Tier 1 capital increased by 6.2% to hit $1.95tn. In Africa, the Middle East and South America, Tier 1 capital grew by 9.3%, 11.1% and 7.6% respectively.

Increases for Asia-Pacific continue to be driven by China, which accounts for $3.38tn of the region’s Tier 1 capital, with aggregate Tier 1 capital for the country’s banks growing by 14.4% year-on-year. This is in stark contrast to Japan, which saw its Tier 1 capital decrease by 10.3% to $642.6bn — its lowest value since 2017. Japan’s figures, however, have been skewed by the yen’s slumping exchange rate against the US dollar. All data in the Top 1000 is converted into US dollar values (if not already provided in that currency) to enable aggregation and international comparison.

In western Europe, just seven of the 22 countries saw their aggregate Tier 1 capital increase year-on-year, and this only includes two major banking economies — Switzerland and the UK, which had increases of 3.4% and just 0.9% respectively. France, which has the highest aggregate Tier 1 capital of any western European country in the Top 1000, saw an annual decrease of 4.6%; Spain saw a decrease of 0.9% and Germany a decrease of 4.1%. Turkey and Greece both saw particularly substantial decreases in percentage terms, of 30.0% and 26.2% respectively. In Turkey’s case, it was negatively impacted by the currency devaluation.

Regions by total Tier 1 capital/assets/pre-tax profits ($bn)

Regional aggregate profitability

Chinese dominance continues

Chinese banks have continued to consolidate their increasingly dominant position within the Top 1000. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has now made it a full decade at the top of the Top 1000 rankings. Its Tier 1 capital has continued to swell, growing by $68.9bn since last year to hit a massive $508.85bn — a 15.7% increase and the first time an individual bank in the Top 1000 has held more than $500bn in Tier 1 capital on its balance sheet. It has more than twice the Tier 1 capital of JPMorgan, the highest non-Chinese bank in the rankings in fifth position. It also holds a mammoth $5.52tn in assets on its balance sheet.

Four other Chinese banks join ICBC in the top 10, with China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China each maintaining their second, third and fourth positions, respectively, in the ranking. Bank of Communications has also moved from 11th to 10th position. This marks the first time that Chinese banks have made up half of the top 10.

China also now makes up half of the top 20 — increasing its share from nine of the 20 in 2021 — with China Citic Bank entering the top 20 for the first time. Its 18.0% increase in Tier 1 capital saw it leapfrog from 24th to 19th position.

At an aggregate level, Chinese banks are also increasingly dominant — accounting for a third of Tier 1 capital across the whole Top 1000. This is a slight increase from last year, when they accounted for 30%. Within Asia-Pacific, Chinese banks account for 65% of aggregate Tier 1 capital, up from 62% last year. Japan, the next nearest, this year accounts for just 12% — down from 15% last year.

China’s aggregate pre-tax profits increased by 15% year-on-year to reach $400bn. Its relative share of global net income has fallen from 37% last year to 27%; although, similar to last year, it continues to account for two-thirds of Asia-Pacific pre-tax profits.

Compared to last year, Asia-Pacific overall also accounts for a smaller total of global profits. In 2021 its share of total global net income was 55.1% compared to 43.0% this year. North America and western Europe have picked up that slack. North American banks represented 28.5% of net income this year, compared to 23.9% last year, and for western Europe its share has increased from 10.3% to 17.3%.

Although China has by far the most dominant position by size of banks, the number of Chinese banks in this year’s Top 1000 has decreased by four to 140. But China remains second only to the US in total banks in the Top 1000, which has 186 — an increase of eight from last year.

Number of banks in the Top 1000 by region

Ten biggest moves from loss to profit

European changes

It is a year of significant change for Europe for this year’s rankings. In western Europe, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity was the main driver behind a reduction of seven banks in this year’s Top 1000.

The central and eastern Europe (CEE) region has 13 fewer banks than last year. We have been unable to gather data from the two Ukrainian banks — PrivatBank and State Savings Bank of Ukraine — which were part of the ranking last year. There are also fewer Russian banks in our ranking this year, just six banks compared to 21 in 2021, as we have not been able access the necessary data. 

US holds steady

There has been little change for the US’s biggest three universal banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America (BofA) and Citi — with them retaining their fifth, sixth and seventh positions in the Top 1000 ranking, respectively. Their Tier 1 capital levels have generally remained relatively stable, although JPMorgan’s has increased by 4.8% compared to last year to hit $246.16bn, while BofA’s Tier 1 capital decreased by 1.8%.

The most significant US mover and shaker in the top 20 is Goldman Sachs, which saw its Tier 1 Capital increase by 15.1% to hit $106.77bn — the first time it has surpassed $100bn.

In recent years Goldman has been expanding outside of its traditional investment banking focus. Its Marcus digital banking platform for retail customers has now grown to a customer base of more than 10 million, with more than $110bn in deposits, since its 2016 launch in the US and 2018 launch in the UK. The bank plans to push this expansion much further with the launch of a digital chequing account by the end of this year. It is also pushing ahead with further expansion of its transaction banking services, which it launched in the US in 2020 and in the UK in 2021. It already has more than $50bn in deposits in this division and is targeting $100bn by 2024.

Goldman Sachs also succeeded in increasing its pre-tax profits by 116.2%, building on a relatively strong performance last year where it was one of the few large US banks to achieve growth in pre-tax profits compared to 2020 (16.1%).

Overall, it was a good year for pre-tax profits across the US banks, with aggregate pre-tax profits increasing by 97.7% compared to last year. Just nine of the 186 US banks in the Top 1000 had smaller profits compared to last year.

Wells Fargo, the US’s fourth-biggest bank, in particular, saw its pre-tax profits jump from just $581m last year to $28.82bn this year — a 4860% increase. It was able to benefit from a $4.1bn reduction in its provision for credit losses, compared to last year when it recorded a $13.4bn provision for credit losses.

The bank also benefited from gains in areas such as in its affiliated venture capital and private equity businesses, and sales of its student lending, asset management and corporate trust businesses. It remains subject to the $1.95tn asset cap imposed on it by the federal reserve in 2018 (with some limited exemptions for Covid-19-related lending). Although CEO Charlie Scharf has commented that the bank is “making significant progress” in addressing regulatory concerns, he says “there is still work to do” which will take time.

JPMorgan, Citi and BofA recorded pre-tax profit increases of 68.4%, 78.9% and 96.2%, respectively.

Top 20 losses by bank

Top 20 shake-up

HSBC is once again the only European bank in the top 10; it has reversed its one position gain of last year, returning to ninth position, with its Tier 1 capital decreasing by 2.4%. It was able to boost its pre-tax profits by 115.4%; this was largely driven by a reversal in impairment charges. The bank is likely to see further adjustments in its assets and capital, as it continues to progress its plans to withdraw from the US mass-market retail banking.

In February this year, HSBC completed sales of 80 branches to Citizens Bank and 10 branches to Cathay Bank, along with associated deposits and loans; these sales will be reflected in its 2022 annual report. In March, it also announced it had entered into a deal to sell its Greek retail operations, covering 15 branches, to local bank Pancreta, although this deal is not expected to be completed until the first half of 2023.

However, the changes are part of its wider strategy to pivot towards Asia and the Middle East, and it is likely to make new investments in that region. For instance, HSBC Insurance subsidiaries in Asia-Pacific are currently pursuing plans to take full ownership of HSBC Life China (from the current 50%), and to increase ownership in Indian life insurer Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company from 26% to 49%.

Turning to the other banks in the top 20, France’s two largest banks, Crédit Agricole and BNP Paribas have also slipped down the rankings from 12th and 13th last year to 14th and 15th positions this year, with their Tier 1 capital falling by 3.6% and 6.6%, respectively, and assets by 3.6% and 2.6%. It is important to note the euro has fallen in value against the US dollar, so if considered in local currency there is not the same fall. Each increased their pre-tax profits by 55.5% and 27.8%. 

Japan now has just one bank remaining in the top 20, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which shifted from 10th to 12th position, its Tier 1 capital dropping by 12.4%. However, its pre-tax profits grew by 29.3%. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, with its Tier 1 capital falling 9.7%, has dropped from 16th to 21st position. The Tier 1 values have been negatively impacted by the falling value of the yen.

The foreign exchange effect

Profits recovery

This was a year when several banks had an impressive turnaround in fortunes with their pre-tax profits. Santander, which last year recorded its first loss in its 160-year history, of $2.56bn, has recorded pre-tax profits of $16.5bn this year.

In 2020, the bank made a non-cash adjustment to the valuation of goodwill and deferred tax assets on its balance sheet, which had a significant negative impact. Much of this adjustment applied across its subsidiaries Santander UK, Santander Bank Polska and Santander Consumer Nordics, and US businesses Santander Bank, National Association and Santander Consumer USA. It attributes its improved performance to growth in loans and deposits, and an improvement in credit quality.

NatWest, which last year made a pre-tax loss of $468m, recorded pre-tax profits of $5.82bn. This was in part down to an impairment release of $1.7bn, but the UK lender also attributes the results to growing its lending, cost reductions and digital transformation.

UniCredit has also moved from a $3bn loss to pre-tax profits of $1.41bn. The bank, which gained its new CEO Andrea Orcel in April 2021, is currently engaging in a major strategic plan, UniCredit Unlocked, to deliver growth and long-term profitability. However, the bank faces some risk given its exposure to Russian markets.

Germany’s Commerzbank, which last year made the second-largest loss in the Top 1000 at $3.2bn, has also moved back into the black, albeit with modest pre-tax profits of $119m. Last year was the first year of its major restructuring programme, which included planned staffing cuts of 10,000 people, as well as the closure of 340 of its 790 branches. It has benefitted from a significant year-on-year reduction in impairment charges.

This year, the biggest loss in the Top 1000 was Greece’s Alpha Bank, which made a pre-tax loss of $3.37bn, closely followed by Piraeus Bank, also of Greece, which made a loss of $3.07bn. Both banks have been undergoing restructuring within their balance sheets to improve asset quality.

Impairment charge falls

Global pre-tax profits at an aggregate level reached $1.44tn, a 53.7% increase compared to last year. This is in stark contrast to previous year when pre-tax profits fell by 19.2% year on year. At a regional level, South America saw the biggest annual increase in profits at 128.8%, followed by western Europe at 102.8% and North America at 90.2%. Spain was the country with the biggest annual increase in pre-tax profits, at 621%, followed by Poland at 464%.

In many cases, this reversal in fortunes for pre-tax profits reflects the opposite trend for provisions and impairment charges. Impairment charges are costs that recognise the diminishing value of assets (for instance loans where there is a reasonable expectation of it not being paid back), and are included on bank-income statements — as such, increased impairment charges have a direct impact on profits. Last year, aggregate global impairment charges ballooned from $472bn to $754bn. This year they have fallen back down to $411bn.

North America saw the biggest regional fall in impairment charges, with an annual decrease of 124.2%, followed by western Europe at 63.9% and CEE with a decrease of 56.1%. At an individual country level, some of the biggest reductions were seen in the US, with a 129.0% fall in impairment charges, the UK with a 114.6% drop and Australia with a 102.5% fall.

Interestingly, China’s impairment charges only fell by 1.5% year-on-year, but unlike many other countries, its banks did not see significant increases in the year prior. Last year, impairment charges at Chinese banks had increased by 22%, compared that to its next nearest peer by size of banks, the US, which last year had a 157% increase.

A similar trend is visible when comparing China’s pre-tax profits to the US’s. China’s banks had by far the largest aggregate pre-tax profits of any country, at more than $400bn this year. Yet, this was just a 15% year-on-year increase. This compares to the US, which had pre-tax profits of $342.73bn this year, an increase of 97.7% compared to last year.

At first glance, it may appear the US banks are more profitable based on these figures; however, the significant increase in US pre-tax profits is largely attributable to the annual fall in impairment charges, following a one-off major increase, whereas China’s pre-tax profit growth has been more stable in recent years.

Post-crisis performance

Indeed, China’s bank did not suffer a drop in pre-tax profits between 2008 and 2009, at the height of the financial crisis. Looking across the period since then, as an overall trend, its aggregate pre-tax profits have gradually climbed.

For western European banks, even 13 years later, their pre-tax profits have never recovered to 2008 levels. In 2008, western European pre-tax profits stood at $355bn, and they fell the following year by $390bn, to a loss of $35bn. Since then, they have been up and down, and this year’s figure of $258.75bn is the highest level they have reached since 2008.

North American banks experienced an even bigger loss in 2009, with pre-tax profits falling by $216bn from $140bn in 2008 to a loss of $76bn. Unlike western Europe, however, aggregate pre-tax profits at North American banks had been consistently increasing until last year. They recovered to 2008 levels in 2011, overtook western European profits in 2012, and this year stand at $408.27bn. For Asia-Pacific, it is clear the extent to which China has come to dominate the region’s banking industry in the post-crisis period. In 2008, China’s aggregate pre-tax profits were $77bn, compared to $121bn for Asia-Pacific excluding China. As of this year, China’s pre-tax profits stand at $400bn compared to the rest of the region at $206bn.

Loans and deposits change year on year

Year-on-year changes in allowances for loan losses

Lending activity

In order to benefit from rising interest rates, banks will need to boost their lending, particularly to customers they can be confident will not default during potentially challenging economic circumstances. This year’s Top 1000 figures (although not reflective of current market activity) suggest that banks in most regions have remained relatively cautious. For instance, although gross total loans in Africa increased by 10.2% year-on-year, their gross total deposits increased by 11.0%. Similarly, gross total loans in the Middle East increased by 10.2%, but total deposits also grew by 10.6%.

In North America, deposit growth has far outstripped loan growth, with gross total loans increasing by 7.4% and total deposits increasing by 11.8%, year on year. In western Europe, this trend is even more pronounced, with gross total loans decreasing year-on-year by 3.0% and gross total deposits increasing by 0.4%. However, the overall health of western European banking loan books appears to have improved. Aggregate allowances fell by 19.8% year-on-year, and allowances as a percentage of the total loan book fell by 30.25 basis points (bps). In North America, the decrease was even greater, with aggregate allowances falling by 27% and allowances as a percentage of the total loan book falling by 62bps.

Big M&A deals

Although only 12 M&A transactions were completed within the Top 1000 during the 2021 financial year, there were some major deals. The largest by far was the merger between Samba Financial Group and National Commercial Bank to create Saudi National Bank. The combined bank is now the largest banking entity in the Middle East, with Tier 1 capital of $32.62bn. It is in 67th position in the rankings, leapfrogging Qatar National Bank (77th this year), which was previously the region’s largest bank.

The next largest deal was Spain’s CaixaBank’s acquisition of Bankia, which was completed in March 2021, having first been announced in September 2020. CaixaBank says the combined bank now has almost 20 million customers in Spain, making it the largest retail bank in the domestic market by share of customers (Santander is Spain’s largest bank by Tier 1 capital and assets). The combined entity is Spain’s third-largest bank by Tier 1 capital and second-largest by assets at $772.77bn. Western Europe was the most active region for M&A, accounting for five of the 12 deals taking place in 2021.

For comparability and consistency, we convert all the data used in the Top 1000 into US dollar values. However, year-on-year depreciation in the value of some currencies can have the effect of suppressing the position of some banks within the ranking. For transparency, the table ‘The Foreign Exchange Effect’ lists the 50 banks within the Top 1000 that would move up rankings the most if the effects of the depreciation were recalibrated. Typically, smaller banks are affected the most. This year, the largest bank affected is TC Ziraat Bankasi, which could have been in 111th position in the rankings, rather than 177th without the effects of currency depreciation.

Top 10 countries by pre-tax profits

Impairment charges and pre-tax profits by region