Press Release: The World’s 50 Safest Commercial Banks 2016

NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2016 — Global Finance has named the World’s 50 Safest Commercial Banks for 2016 in an exclusive survey to be published in the November 2016 issue. For commercial banks to qualify for this ranking, they must not be majority owned by government or regional authorities.

The top spot on this year’s list once again goes to Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank, with Germany’s DZ Bank making an eight position move up the list to #2. Other new banks in the top 10 this year include Sweden’s Svenska Handelsbanken and Germany’s Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank. Three of Singapore’s leading banks make the top 10 again this year with DBS Bank at #3, OCBC Bank at #5 and United Overseas Bank at #6.

New additions to the list comprise Germany’s BBBank eG and TeamBank AG Nuernberg in 34th and 35th place, Switzerland’s UBS in 38th, South Korea’s Shinhan Bank at 42nd and ING Bank from the Netherlands in 50th.

The biggest jump up the list this year was made by Sweden’s Swedbank, making a 19 position move to #16.

In addition to the World’s 50 Safest Commercial Banks, the full report also includes the following: World’s 50 Safest Banks, Safest Banks by Country, 50 Safest Banks in Emerging Markets, 50 Safest Banks in Europe, 50 Safest Banks in the Middle East, Safest Chinese Banks, Safest Islamic Financial Institutions in the GCC, and Safest Banks by Region (Asia, Australasia, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East/Africa, North America and Western Europe). The report will also compare the 2016 Safest Banks against our rankings from 5 and 10 years ago.

Banks were selected through an evaluation of long-term foreign currency ratings—from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch—and total assets of the 500 largest banks worldwide.

“Many of the Safest Banks globally have government support. The entities in the Commercial Banks ranking do not, but they are still among the most secure banks in the world. With tighter regulations, now more than ever, corporate clients demand financial services they can trust,” says Joseph Giarraputo, publisher and editorial director of Global Finance.

* Greatest gain over position on the 2015list
**New entry to the ranking

Ratings current as of August 9, 2016