The world's 100 largest banks, 2022
European banks
lost some of their dominance in global asset size rankings in 2021, while
major Chinese lenders maintained their
lead as the
world's biggest financial institutions.
Twenty-six of the 37 European lenders on the list of the world's 100 largest banks slid down the rankings by between one and nine notches as of 2021-end from a year prior, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The total assets of all European banks on the list contracted 2.16% to $36.890 trillion in 2021 from $37.707 trillion a year earlier.
Some of the European lenders saw their balance sheets shrink after scaling back their stateside operations amid competition from major U.S. lenders. Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, for instance, slid one place to No. 47 after selling a 639-branch business in the U.S. with about $103 billion in total assets. HSBC Holdings PLC, however, maintained its position and asset size as its pivot to Asia's wealth management business helped offset the impact of the sale of its retail banking operations in the U.S. and France.
A resurgence in COVID-19 infections in several parts of the world and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict are likely to drag on the global economy this year. Growth was already expected to slow from 2021, when output in most countries recovered from the pandemic. These two factors are expected to complicate monetary policy normalization as global central banks get cautious about not hurting economic recovery by tightening too soon while facing high inflation.
For the latest ranking, company assets were adjusted on a best-efforts basis for pending mergers, acquisitions and divestitures as well as M&A deals that closed after the end of the reporting period through March 31. Assets reported by non-U.S. dollar filers were converted to dollars using period-end exchange rates. Total assets were taken on an "as-reported" basis, and no adjustments were made to account for differing accounting standards. The majority of the banks were ranked by total assets as of Dec. 31, 2021. In the previous ranking published April 12, 2021, most company assets were as of Dec. 31, 2020, and were adjusted for pending and completed M&A as of March 31, 2021.
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintel...-2022-69651785