The World’s Largest Banks

By Paul Ausick Updated Jan 13, 10:49AM EST · Published Apr 13, 12:35PM EDT

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The World’s Largest Banks — © Thinkstock

Of the world’s 10 largest banks, the top four are based in China. The United States and France have two each, and the United Kingdom and Japan each put one on list. The top five banks based on total assets are all based in Asia.

The largest U.S. bank is JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) with assets as of the end of December 2015 of $2.35 trillion. The bank ranks seventh in the world, a drop of one position compared with its ranking at the end of March 2015.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is the world’s ninth largest bank, and the only other U.S. financial institution to make the top 10. The bank’s assets totaled $2.14 trillion at the end of December, and its position in the ranking is unchanged from March 2015.

The data were published on Tuesday by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Here are the top 10 and their total assets converted to dollars at the exchange rate as of the end of December.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China: $3.42 trillion
China Construction Bank: $2.83 trillion
Agricultural Bank of China: $2.74 trillion
Bank of China: $2.59 trillion
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: MTU): $2.46 trillion
HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HSBC): $2.41 trillion
JPMorgan: $2.35 trillion
BNP Paribas: $2.17 trillion
Bank of America: $2.14 trillion
Credit Agricole: $1.85 trillion

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Bank of China rose from fifth to fourth in the latest ranking, while Mitsubishi rose from eighth to fifth and Credit Agricole jumped from 12th to 10th. HSBC dropped from fourth to sixth, JPMorgan fell from sixth to seventh and BNP fell from seventh to eighth.

S&P noted that if JPMorgan followed the same accounting principles as the Chinese banks, the U.S. bank would rank second. Under U.S. GAAP accounting, banks report the net amount of derivative assets on their balance sheets, while companies (like the China-based banks) that use IFRS accounting rules must report the gross amount of derivative assets. If JPMorgan filed under IFRS, S&P estimated it would add assets of $902.20 billion, bringing its total assets to $3.254 trillion and making it the second-largest bank in the world.

About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.