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Japan's banks slide as China marches on

The sluggish growth that has existed in Japan's banking sector in recent years shows little sign of ending.
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Top 25: Japan; Highest movers: Japan; Top five ROC: Japan; New entrants: Japan

The performance of Japan’s banks looks particularly lacklustre when compared to their counterparts in the increasingly dominant China. The largest banks in Japan have held steady in their positions, but many others have slid down the global rankings.

The top bank in Japan, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, has held its position from last year as the seventh largest bank in the world in terms of Tier 1 capital. And the next largest Japanese banks, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group, occupy the same two rankings they held last year, although they have swapped places, with Sumitomo Mitsui 16th and Mizuho 17th.

In the 2011 ranking, Mitsubishi UFJ was the highest ranking Asian bank in the world, and fifth globally after Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC and Citigroup. This year there are two Chinese banks that rank higher than Mitsubishi UFJ, and while China’s banks are steadily marching up the global rankings, it seems that Japan’s have started to slide.

Mitsubishi UFJ’s Tier 1 capital saw a change from $117.02bn in 2012's ranking to $129.58bn this year. This figure also put the bank in the highest movers table for Japan, with a Tier 1 capital increase of 10.73%.

Sumitomo Mitsui saw a slight increase in its Tier 1 capital from last year’s figure of $76.38bn to $78.9bn. But the Tier 1 levels of other banks in Japan’s top 25, such as Mizuho, Norinchukin and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, fell.

Resona Holdings is one second-tier Japanese bank that bucked this negative trend. In the 2013 rankings, as in 2012, it ranks seventh in Japan and has inched up the global rankings from 64th in 2012 to 63rd this year. Resona is the third highest mover in Japan with a Tier 1 capital increase of 9.12% to $21.61bn.

Japan's highest mover is Chiba Kogyo Bank, which saw its Tier 1 capital rise by 23.8% to $1.97bn. This increase, however, pales in comparison to the highest mover in China – Bank of Hebei – which had a Tier 1 capital rise of 90.19%.

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