As was the case in the 2014 ranking, the highest mover in The Banker's 2015 Top 1000 World Banks list – Cooperative Central Bank – comes from Cyprus. The bank posted a 312.63% capital increase, which brought its Tier 1 capital to $1.48bn, also earning it a position in the new arrivals table. This figure is not as high as last year’s highest mover, which was Bank of Cyprus with a growth of 1888.23%; however, in general, capital growth slowed across the globe in 2014 compared with the year before. Also, as was the case with the Bank of Cyprus, the capital increase at the Cooperative Central Bank was a result of a recapitalisation deal rather than a strategic capital expansion.
US lenders have had a good year and feature prominently among this year’s highest movers. Investors Bancorp from US, which ranks 273 in the world, places second, having achieved 177.16% growth in 2014. There are five other American banks in the table; of these, Pacwest Bancorp and Umpqua Holdings Corporation perform particularly well, with the former in the third spot, as the bank increased its Tier 1 capital 139.69% to $1.72bn, and the latter ranked sixth, as the bank posted a capital change of 92.01% bringing its Tier 1 to $2.27bn.
After Pacwest follows Malaysia Building Society, the only Malaysian institution in the top 25 movers table, in fourth position with a capital expansion of 116.78% to $1.05bn. In the fifth spot is German Siemens Bank, which also features in the new arrivals table, thanks to a 113.31% capital increase. Sparebanken Sor, ranked 10th, is the only other European bank to make an appearance in this year’s highest movers table, providing a stark contrast to last year, when European banks dominated the ranking.
Venezuelan banks also feature prominently in the top 25 highest movers. Although two Venezuelan lenders were included among last year’s highest movers, this year they are making their presence more felt with their ranks swelling to five banks. This happened as the balance sheets of local institutions soared and capital grew with them; Banco Nacional de Credito, which is the seventh highest mover, increased its Tier 1 capital by 85.72%. Banco Occidental de Descuento, which was the 15th highest mover a year ago, and Banesco Banco Universal have likewise done well, respectively posting 82.96% and 80.3% capital increases, earning them ninth and 11th positions. However, the performance of the Venezuelan banks is probably at least partly attributable to soaring inflation in the country – reported at 68.5% in December 2014. Combined with the complex system of capital controls (the country used two different official exchange rates in 2014), this might mean the figures are not strictly comparable.
Chinese banks may not sit atop the table, but they constitute the largest group among the highest movers. This was also the case in the 2014 ranking, however, and now the top 25 includes two more Chinese lenders, bringing the country's total presence to nine.
The highest Chinese mover is Fudian Bank, which ranks eighth in this ranking and 397th worldwide. This is higher than the highest moving Chinese bank in last year's ranking, Jilin Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank, which placed 12th. However, characteristically of this year’s ranking, the actual growth figure was smaller at Fudian – the bank increased its capital by 85.28% in the 2015 ranking, while Jilin Jiutai grew its by 90.87% the year before.
Chinese lenders occupy positions 13 to 17 of the highest movers ranking through Bank of Liuzhou, Bank of Tangshan, Shengjing Bank, Xiamen Rural Commercial Bank and Jinhua Bank. Two of these banks are new to the Top 1000 ranking – Jinhua and Bank of Tangashan entered in the 882nd and 884th positions, respectively. This is also the case with Bank of Deyang, which as the 22nd highest mover was able to rank 776th in this year’s Top 1000.
