WORLD'S 50 BIGGEST BANKS 2010 | Global Finance

Global Finance ranks the 50 Biggest Banks

Top 10 see $3.2 trillion drop in assets

NEW YORK, September 13, 2010 — Global Finance reveals its annual ranking of the World’s 50 Biggest Banks, as measured by total assets. The list will be published in the October issue of Global Finance Magazine.

The world’s biggest banks are beginning, once again, to enjoy calmer times. But while the people running the banks may be heaving a huge sigh of relief, some serious damage has been done. All but a handful of the banks at the top of the Global Finance World’s Biggest Banks list have seen their assets fall over the past year. The top 10 banks have seen $3.2 trillion hacked off their combined balance sheet, giving an idea of the severity of the carnage at the top of the table. It appears the spoils are accruing to the upstarts, though, as the total assets of the top 50 as a whole barely budged at $61.8 trillion.

China’s banks are continuing their long march up the league tables. The country now has six banks among the world’s biggest 50 accounting for a hefty $6.9 trillion—more than 10% of the assets of the top 50. China’s biggest bank, ICBC, rocketed up the league this year from 18th to 11th. Perhaps 2011 will see China breaking into the top 10.

For editorial information please contact: Dan Keeler, Editor, email: dan@gfmag.com

Source: Fitch Ratings except

*Standard & Poor’s

**Agricultural Bank of China