An almost frenzied focus on boosting capital in 2009 has meant that Bank of America (BOA) leapfrogged JPMorgan Chase in this year's rankings to become the world's biggest bank by Tier 1 capital.

Despite pulling itself out of the worst recession the country has seen since the Second World War, Japan remains a deeply troubled economy saddled with a fiscal position that has in recent months gone from bad to worse: indeed, so parlous is Japan's predicament that in June the country's new prime minister, Naoto Kan, warned that the once mighty Asian economy may be staring a Greek-style public debt crisis in the face.

Every year the Top 1000 Banks ranking delivers new and startling insights into the creeping dominance of the Chinese banking sector and this year does not disappoint.

Last year, the financial crisis had little impact on the top 25 western European banks.