China and the US continue to produce the fastest growing banks, as measured by Tier 1 capital growth, accounting for nine and six of this year’s highest movers, respectively. LegacyTexas Group sits on top of the table, having recorded a 284.93% Tier 1 capital increase, which has propelled it into the Top 1000 for the first time. The US lender’s rise comes after it merged with Viewpoint Financial Group at the beginning of 2015. It brings Cyprus’s reign over this ranking to an end; Cooperative Central Bank topped the table in 2015 after growing 312.63%, while in 2014 the Bank of Cyprus led the way with a whopping 1888.23% growth rate.
Simmons First National Corp, the US's next best performer, comes in fourth after more than doubling its Tier 1 capital recorded in the 2015 Top 1000 list. US banks also placed seventh, eighth and ninth after registering growth of between 66% and 74%.
The second fastest mover, KGI Bank, has soared from 910th in the 2015 Top 1000 World Bank rankings to 501st this year. The Taiwanese lender posted growth of 213.32% following its acquisition and rebranding by China Development Financial Holding Corporation. Meanwhile, Bank of Tangshan is notable not only for being the fastest growing Chinese bank in the ranking, but also the only lender to appear in this table for two consecutive years. It has finished third in the 2016 rankings, after increasing its Tier 1 capital base by 124.35%. What makes this figure even more impressive is that Tangshan recorded 67.6% growth in the 2015 rankings.
One of the other Chinese banks to keep an eye on is Bank of Nanjing. While it has placed below some of its compatriots in this table, its 50.76% growth has pushed its Tier 1 capital base to $8.03bn, making it the biggest lender in the top 25 fastest movers. It is a similar story for Xiamen International Bank which, after growing 65.35%, has increased its Tier 1 capital base to $4.17bn making it this table’s second largest bank. Although smaller in size, Bank of Qingdao and Tianjin Binhai Rural Commercial Bank are notable with 60.37% and 58.78% growth, respectively.
Along with LegacyTexas, the US’s BNC Bancorp – the 21st highest mover – is the other new entrant to the Top 1000 World Bank list. Five of the highest movers also re-entered the Top 1000 list this year. Among them are Greece’s Attica Bank, which made the biggest splash by recording a 79.08% increase on its Tier 1 capital in the 2015 ranking, followed by Iran’s Bank Mellat, which grew by 66.41%, and Slovenia’s Abanka, which achieved 66.05% growth.
The other highest movers are scattered across Asia and, encouragingly, Europe, which has suffered from lower capital assets ratios than almost all other regions. India’s IndusInd Bank has placed 13th in the highest movers table, while 53.97% growth by Banca Transilvania has earned it the 18th spot. The Romanian lender is closely followed by the Philippines’ East West Banking Corp, which posted 53.69% growth, and Indonesia’s Bank Mega, which recorded a capital expansion of 53.49%.
Closing out the top 25 is Italy’s Cassa di Risparmio di Bolzano, a welcome development for the country's struggling banking sector.
Eleven Venezuelan banks should feature in the top 25 highest movers table but because their Tier 1 capital changes are so distorted by triple-digit inflation and a drastically overvalued official exchange rate, they have been removed from the ranking. On the pure numbers, they would be ranked as follows: first, Banco Industrial de Venezuela; fourth, Banco Nacional de Credito; fifth, Banco de Venezuela; seventh, Banco Occidental de Descuento; eighth, Banplus; 10th, Venezolano de Credito; 11th, Banco Fondo Comun; 12th, Banco del Tesoro; 13th, Banesco Banco Universal; 14th, Banco del Caribe; and 18th, Banco Caroni.
