[ET Net News Agency, 17 April 2020] Chinese institutions continued to dominate world's
biggest banks for the fifth consecutive year despite a weakened yuan and an economic
slowdown on the back of global trade tensions through 2019, according to the annual Global
Bank Ranking series published by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
One-fifth (19) of the top 100 banks are headquartered in China and collectively reported
US$25.8 trillion in assets. China's "Big Four" - Industrial & Commercial Bank of China
Ltd. (01398), China Construction Bank Corp. (00939), Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.
(01288) and Bank of China Ltd. (03988) - remained the four largest banks in this year's
ranking with combined assets of US$14.82 trillion, which is up 7.5% from the prior year's
ranking.
"Economic fallout stemming from efforts to combat the coronavirus will weigh on future
growth of many global banks," said Nathan Stovall, Principal Analyst at S&P Global Market
Intelligence.
"While the slowdown was expected to be most pronounced in China where COVID-19 first
surfaced, a number of economists now fear an even greater impact in the U.S., where they
project that GDP could decline by nearly 5% in 2020," he noted.
"U.S. bank earnings will come under considerable pressure in 2020 as the significant
business disruption resulting from efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic will push
many borrowers to the brink and result in a large increase in credit costs and limit
growth," Stovall added. "Banks in any geography that face prolonged shut downs could find
themselves in the same camp."
The U.S. had the second-highest number in this year's ranking, with 11 banks holding
US$13.04 trillion in assets. JPMorgan Chase & Co. slipped one spot to No. 7 and continued
to be the largest bank in the United States, while Bank of America Corp. maintained its
position as the eighth largest bank globally.
London-based HSBC Holdings (00005) climbed one spot to No. 6, overtaking JPMorgan as the
largest non-Asian bank after posting a 6.14% increase in assets last year.
Among the notable movements in this year's ranking was Barclays PLC, which moved up two
spots to No. 18. The bank's 2019-end assets were US$56.89 billion higher than their value
had exchange rates remained constant from last year. (KL)