Biggest Banks In The World 2018

The world’s biggest banks are even bigger than last year. China has the biggest; Europe has the most.

Once again, Chinese banks top our ranking of the World’s Biggest Banks, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China reaching a whopping $4 trillion in assets. Asset growth is a big part of this year’s story; the threshold for inclusion among the biggest increased from approximately $590 billion last year to $627 billion. Several banks crossed the threshold of $1 trillion in assets this year: Netherlands-based ING Group at 24th, Canada’s Toronto-Dominion at 25th and Italy’s Unicredit rising to 27th place.

Yet China’s banks still dominate, contributing 13 of the biggest banks—one more than last year, now that China Everbright Bank makes the cut. While the central bank, the People’s Bank of China, had communicated its inclination to reduce leverage in the financial system, policies designed to reduce credit are waning as the economy weakens and trade tension with the United States escalates.

Rather, China’s leaders—now focused on economic growth and financial-market stability—injected liquidity into the system, expanding balance sheets. Asset strength among the top four banks had risen approximately 15% as of December 2017. Granted, some of that is due to currency appreciation; the Chinese renminbi rose approximately 7% versus the dollar in 2017. Yet balance sheet expansion has continued in 2018, as banks have added more credit. Bank lending in the first half of 2018, at RMB9 trillion, was RMB1 trillion higher than the same period last year.

Regionally, European banks contribute the most names to the World’s Biggest, with 21 banks listed this year, one more than last year due to the addition of Banque Federative de Credit Mutuel. In all, eight EU countries make this year’s list, with the UK and France each placing five entities in the rankings. JPMorgan Chase is the largest US bank in the ranking, unchanged from last year, with Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup, as well as traditional investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, rounding out the six US banks on our list. Japan contributes four names, with the largest Japanese bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, nudged one spot lower by Bank of China. Australia contributes three banks, down from the four banks in last year’s rankings; National Australia Bank missed the cut.

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WORLD’S BIGGEST BANKS 2018 —Global Top 50

Rank	Company Name	Country	Assets ($ Mil.)
1	Industrial and Commercial Bank of China	China	4,006,242
2	China Construction Bank	China	3,397,688
3	Agricultural Bank of China	China	3,233,212
4	Bank of China	China	2,989,653
5	Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group	Japan	2,815,273
6	J.P. Morgan Chase	United States	2,533,600
7	HSBC Holdings	United Kingdom	2,521,771
8	China Development Bank	China	2,450,812
9	BNP Paribas	France	2,350,929
10	Bank of America	United States	2,281,234
11	Credit Agricole	France	2,114,568
12	Wells Fargo	United States	1,951,757
13	Mizuho Financial Group	Japan	1,866,823
14	Citigroup	United States	1,842,465
15	Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	Japan	1,803,215
16	Deutsche Bank	Germany	1,768,646
17	Banco Santander	Spain	1,732,154
18	Barclays	United Kingdom	1,531,189
19	Societe Generale	France	1,529,261
20	Groupe BPCE	France	1,510,938
21	Bank of Communications	China	1,388,024
22	Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe (Sparkassen)	Germany	1,235,669
23	Lloyds Banking Group	United Kingdom	1,095,640
24	ING Group	Netherlands	1,014,989
25	TD Bank	Canada	1,012,760
26	Norichukin Bank	Japan	1,005,655
27	UniCredit	Italy	1,003,562
28	The Royal Bank of Scotland Group	United Kingdom	997,225
29	Industrial Bank	China	985,448
30	China Merchants Bank	China	967,141
31	Inesta Sanpaolo	Italy	955,675
32	Shanghai Pudong Development Bank	China	942,509
33	Royal Bank of Canada	Canada	940,707
34	UBS Group	Switzerland	939,089
35	Goldman Sachs Group	United States	916,776
36	China Minsheng Bank	China	906,396
37	China CITIC Bank	China	871,935
38	Morgan Stanley	United States	851,733
39	Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria	Spain	827,587
40	Credit Suisse Group	Switzerland	818,172
41	Agricultural Development Bank of China	China	808,118
42	Banque Federaive du Credit Mutuel	France	742,605
43	Commonwealth Bank of Australia	Australia	734,723
44	Rabobank	Netherlands	723,167
45	The Bank of Nova Scotia	Canada	709,899
46	ANZ Banking Group	Sweden	697,527
47	Nordea Bank	Sweden	697,527
48	Westpac Banking Corporation	Australia	667,786
49	Standard Chartered	United Kingdom	663,752
50	China Everbright Bank	China	627,840
Asset figures from Fitch, Moody’s, and company reports. Ratings valid as of Aug. 17, 2018.