Even after a tumultuous year for the global economy, China has sealed its position as the dominant force in the world banking industry by retaining the top four places in the overall Top 1000 World Banks ranking 2021.

The Chinese banks have been buoyed by the country’s bounce back from the pandemic, which saw gross domestic product reach $14.7tn during 2020, the review period for the ranking. With regulators set to impose stricter capital requirements on the systemically important banks, it is possible the capital levels will continue to rise.

The top four banks managed to increase their Tier 1 capital against the backdrop of a stunted economy and national lockdowns during the early months of 2020. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) retains the top spot, after improving its Tier 1 capital by 15.7% to $439.9bn. ICBC’s total assets increased 18.6% year-on-year and pre-tax profits rose by 7.1%.

China Construction Bank held onto second place, with a Tier 1 capital increase of 14.4% to $361.6bn, while Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) remained in third spot, with a sizeable 21.1% rise in Tier 1 capital to $336.1bn. What is marked about these rises is that the rate of growth is larger than that seen in the 2020 results, when ABC recorded the biggest increase of Tier 1 capital of the top four of 14.3%.

Looking at the best-performing rankings shows the story beneath the top-level capital numbers. China Merchants Bank, which comes sixth in the country table, has overtaken China Minsheng Bank to become the best performer overall, following the former’s second-place finish in last year’s rankings. China Merchants Bank excelled in profitability, return on risk, liquidity, soundness and leverage. However, it came ninth out of the 10 largest Chinese banks for operational efficiency, demonstrating room for improvement in this metric.

Meanwhile, Industrial Bank, which slipped one place in the country rankings to ninth, saw a boost as it took second place in the overall best-performing table, up from fourth, and claimed the top position for growth. The bank saw the biggest increase in operating income, rising 19.8% year-on-year. Industrial Bank reported a 35% increase in profits for the fourth quarter of 2020.

All the largest Chinese banks saw declines in profit margins, with the exception of Postal Savings Bank of China, which recorded a slight increase from 23.0% to 23.8%. Postal Savings Bank, which placed seventh in the China ranking, moved up seven places in the Top 1000 main ranking to 15th following a 32.8% rise in Tier 1 capital, which is the biggest increase recorded among the top 20 world banks. 

即便在全球经济经历了动荡的一年后，中国在2021年全球银行1000强榜单上再度包揽前四名，夯实了其作为世界银行业主导力量的地位。

  

中资银行受到中国从新冠疫情强劲反弹的提振。在榜单的统计周期2020 年，中国的国内生产总值(GDP)达到 14.7 万亿美元。随着监管机构对具有系统重要性的银行实施更严格的资本要求，资本水平有可能会继续上升。

 

在2020年头几个月经济停滞和全国实施抗疫封锁的背景下，中国的四大银行设法增加了各自的一级资本。中国工商银行(ICBC)在将其一级资本提高 15.7%至 4399 亿美元后，在榜单上再度高居首位。工行总资产同比增长18.6%，税前利润增长7.1%。

 

中国建设银行(CCB)保持第二位的排名，一级资本增长14.4%，至3616亿美元，而中国农业银行(ABC)仍然排名第三，一级资本大幅增长21.1%，至3361亿美元。这些增长的显著特点是增长率高于2020年业绩中的数字，该年农行14.3%的一级资本增幅是四大银行中最大的。

表现最佳的银行榜单展示了顶级资本数字下方的故事。在前十大中资银行榜单上排名第六的招商银行(China Merchants Bank)，超越中国民生银行(China Minsheng Bank)，成为整体表现最佳的银行；招商银行在去年的表现榜单上排名第二。该行在盈利能力、风险回报率、流动性、稳健性和杠杆方面表现出色。然而，它在运营效率一项上在排名前10的大型中资银行中排名第 9，表明该指标仍有改进空间。

与此同时，在前十大中资银行榜单上排名下滑一位、至第九位的兴业银行(Industrial Bank)，在整体表现榜单上从第四位上升到第二位，并在增长一项上高居榜首。该行的营业利润增幅最大，同比增长19.8%。兴业银行报告2020年第四季度利润增长35%。

所有大型中资银行的利润率均出现下降，唯一的例外是中国邮政储蓄银行(Postal Savings Bank of China)的利润率从23.0%微升至23.8%。在中资银行榜单上排名第七的邮储银行一级资本增长32.8%（是全球前20大银行中的最大增幅），这使其在全球银行1000强榜单上排名上升7位，至第15位。

Indonesia’s results in the Top 1000 World Banks ranking show that the banks have felt the effects of a difficult year. The country’s banks have slipped down the ranking as they struggled with declines to their Tier 1 capital.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) is the largest of the 10 Indonesian banks that made it into this year’s Top 1000. While the bank has held steady at the top of the country ranking, it dropped to 131st place in the Top 1000 from 112th in 2020, as its Tier 1 capital declined by 5.73% to $13.4bn. However, BRI expanded its asset base by 5.2%.

Bank Mandiri and Bank Central Asia (BCA) switched places in the country ranking, with BCA moving into second place with a 3.9% increase in Tier 1 capital. BCA also saw the biggest rise in total assets of the Indonesian banks that appear in the main ranking – up 15.4%. Despite this, the bank still slides down the overall Top 1000 ranking to 138th, from 129th in 2020.

Indonesian banks enjoyed a vintage year in the 2020 ranking, when they recorded close to 20% increases in their Tier 1 capital during the review period. The Tier 1 capital decline in this year’s rankings may be influenced by the regulator’s requirement for banks to increase their core capital to Rp3tn ($210m) by 2022. Previously, the requirement was to hold Rp100bn. The change also applies to international banks operating in the country.

Bank Pan Indonesia (Panin Bank), the country’s fifth largest bank, has cause for celebration for overtaking BCA in the country’s best-performing rankings. Panin Bank came in first for asset quality, soundness and leverage. Its capital-assets ratio is the highest among the five largest Indonesian banks, which the best-performing methodology was run against. Despite its overall stellar performance, Panin Bank came in fifth place for growth for the second year running.

BCA was relegated to second place in the best-performing rankings overall. It took top place for growth, profitability, return on risk, and liquidity. It grew its deposit base by 17.9% and its profit margin is the highest among the cohort, at 46.9%.

However, profit margins were hit across the board, with Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) seeing a plummet of 3135 basis points (bps), whereas BCA’s fell by just 617bps. On a positive note, BNI took the top spot in the operational efficiency category, improving its cost-to-income ratio by 274bps over the course of the review period.

Japan’s banks continue to struggle in a difficult operating environment which has been further hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Gross domestic product shrank by 4.8% during 2020, representing the biggest decline since 2009.

While the country has recorded relatively few Covid cases for a developed economy, there have been several local lockdowns which have taken a toll on the economy. The postponed Tokyo Olympics, now set to take place in July and August, was expected to give the country a big economic boost. However, it seems unlikely that it will have the desired effect, with international attendees banned and restrictions on spectators.

Japan’s banks must have a feeling of déjà vu in the 2021 ranking, as once again Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) has placed 10th in the Top 1000 World Banks ranking, a position it has held seven out of the past eight years. MUFG saw an increase of just 0.5% in its Tier 1 capital over the course of 2020. While arguably not a stellar result, it is better compared with the 2.1% drop it recorded at the end of 2019.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) remains in second place in the country rankings, although it fell by two places to 16th in the main ranking. This decline comes despite the bank seeing its Tier 1 capital increase by 7.3%.

Norinchukin Bank, similarly, fell in the main ranking (by six places to 25) even though it posted a 4.9% increase in Tier 1 capital. But that allowed it to retain fourth place in the country ranking. The bank did see success in the best-performing banks ranking, knocking Nomura Holdings out of the top spot.

The agricultural, fisheries and forestry-focused bank, placed first out of the largest 10 Japanese banks in the growth, profitability, operational efficiency, soundness, and leverage categories, seeing a 92.7% increase in its total operating income and a 10.6 basis points improvement in return on assets (ROA); MUFG was the only other top 10 Japanese bank that improved its ROA ratio. Norinchukin Bank also has by far the lowest cost-to-income ratio of the top 10 banks – an impressive 22.7%.

Nomura Holdings, which took the top place for performance in 2020, fell to sixth this year, with big declines in its rankings for growth and operational efficiency from first and second, respectively, to 10th place in both this year. Its loan book shrank by 19.7%, the biggest drop among this cohort, it was the only bank to see a decline in assets (-5.1%) and its deposits grew by just 2.1%, compared to 10.7% and 9.8% for MUFG and SMFG, respectively. Its cost-to-income ratio is the highest among this peer group.

After a year of disappointing results in the Top 1000 in 2020, South Korea’s banks have returned to strength, posting an impressive set of improvements in their Tier 1 capital positions.

While the banks are doing well, the country’s regulator has cautioned them to take a conservative approach to their capital management while the pandemic continues. The country saw its gross domestic product decline by 1% in 2020, as exports of its electronic goods declined. While the banks have performed strongly, there is concern about the quality of loans given out during the pandemic.

KB Financial Group (KBFG), the country’s largest bank, has shuffled up one spot to 60th in the 2021 main ranking, as a result of adding 10.8% to its Tier 1 capital, now at $33.9bn. It also increased its asset base by 25.3%, to $561.3bn.

But it is closely followed by Shinhan Financial Group (SFG), which maintains second place in the country ranking but moves up four places to 61st place in the Top 1000. And it is closing the gap, growing its Tier 1 capital by 21.8%, double that of KBFG.

Korea Development Bank (KDB) also climbs the rankings, moving to 63rd from 67th with a very impressive 26.9% increase in Tier 1 capital, to $33.1bn. It also posted a 649.1% increase in pre-tax profits. KDB holds a secure position, with 100% state ownership. Further, the bank is covered by the KDB Act, which requires the government to compensate the bank for any annual net loss that is not covered by the bank’s reserves.

The lender comes top of the country’s best-performing ranking and leads in every metric except for asset quality, where it places last out of the seven largest South Korean banks. Total operating income for KDB skyrocketed in 2020, rising by 236.1%. The figure dwarfs the just over 17% increase recorded by KBFG and NongHyup Financial Group.

KDB also recorded the best return on assets (ROA) ratio of 0.64%, up 54 basis points (bps). Hana Financial Group (HFG) the only other South Korean bank to see an improvement in ROA, to 0.58%.

This year KBFG fared less well in the best-performing rankings – falling from first in 2020 to fourth place overall. Its best performance metric was liquidity, which looks at indicators such bps changes in loans-to-asset ratio and loans-to-deposits ratio.

HFG comes top for asset quality, recording the lowest level of non-performing loans, one of the key indicators for this performance category.

Taiwan’s resilient economy and swift government action against the first wave of Covid-19 in 2020 has helped the country’s banks to a strong performance in the Top 1000 banks ranking.

Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by almost 3% in 2020, thanks to government steps to avoid a full lockdown and a boom for its technology companies and manufacturers. However, since mid-May, the country has been experiencing a second Covid wave, which could have an impact on the GDP figures recorded for 2021.

Despite an increase of just 6.6% in Tier 1 capital, CTBC Bank retains its top place in the country ranking. The low increase in capital has had an impact on its overall Top 1000 ranking, however, with the bank falling five places to 160th.

Also in the country ranking, Bank of Taiwan (BoT) moves into second place, pushing Mega International Commercial Bank (MICB) down to third. Thanks to its Tier 1 capital increasing by 16.9%, BoT also climbs five places in the Top 1000 ranking to 172nd.

Looking more closely at CTBC Bank’s performance, it has dropped from second place to 10th in the best-performance rankings, coming last among the 10 largest Taiwanese banks for growth, profitability and operational efficiency. CTBC saw the biggest deterioration in its cost-to-income ratio, an increase of more than 2000 basis points (bps), which puts it on par with its peers at around 50%. However, it did well in the return on risk category, coming in second.

Meanwhile, Cathay United Bank (CUB) takes over as the overall best-performing bank from last year’s number one, E Sun, which drops to third place. CUB outperformed its peers in profitability and return on risk, being the only bank in this cohort to see an improvement, albeit a small one, in return on risk-weighted assets.

Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, the sixth largest bank in the country, comes in second place in the overall best-performing table. Its stellar performance in the soundness category boosted it up two positions from last year, as well as its achievements in categories such as profitability, operational efficiency, return on risk and leverage, where it placed second.

Overall, all the largest banks in Taiwan perform well, with only a very small score margin between top-placed CUB — with a score of 5.81 — and bottom-placed CTBC Bank, with a score of 5.19. By comparison, Taiwan Co-operative Bank, which is the fifth largest bank and places fourth in the overall best-performing ranking, has an overall score of 5.60 and enjoys two first-place positions for operational efficiency and liquidity.