The US has 10 more banks in the Top 1000 World Banks ranking, bringing its total to 196. The country’s banks also numerically dominate the list of new arrivals, with 19 out of 33 new entrants.
The strengthening of the dollar in 2022, following the US Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, has played a major role in increasing the number of US banks, because they have been able to edge out other countries’ banks at the lower end of the ranking.
For example, CNB Financial Corporation, Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corporation and Alpine Banks of Colorado have joined for the first time in 997th, 999th and 1000th positions, respectively.
Another significant contributor is the continuing consolidation in the US banking sector, particularly among regional and community banks. For example, Allegiance Bank and Community Bank of Texas combined in 2022 to create Stellar Bancorp, German American Bancorp merged with Citizens Union Bank in January and Bancplus Corporation acquired First Bank and Trust in March that year.
TowneBank, one of the largest banks ever chartered in Virginia, is the highest-ranking US lender to join in 2023, at 639th position in the main ranking.
But it is Swiss private banking firm Pictet that enters the Top 1000 in the highest position, in 360th place with $3.68bn in Tier 1 capital. The group joined this year because it provided the Pillar 3 disclosure document required to be included.
Several challenger banks have joined the Top 1000 this year, including Brazil’s Nubank, the UK’s Monzo Bank and the US’s Green Dot Corporation. Nubank joins the ranking in 831st position, following a 96.3% boost in Tier 1 capital. Monzo Bank enters in 885th position, adding 136.4% to its Tier 1 base, while Green Dot joins in 941st spot. The latter was the only one of the three that was able to increase its pre-tax profits, by 31.7%, unlike Nubank and Monzo, which both figure in the top 15 losses by bank table.
Brazil also sees Banco Cooperativo Sicredi and Bancoob in the Top 1000 for the first time, a testament to the strength of the co-operative sector in the Latin American country.
There are two new entrants from Japan: Aichi Financial Group and Procrea Holdings. Aichi Financial Group, which enters the ranking in 520th place, is a new entity formed from the Aichi Bank and Chukyu Bank in October 2022. Likewise, Procrea Holdings was created through the merger of Aomori Bank and Michinoku Bank, which are based in the northern prefecture of Aomori.
Indonesia also has two new entrants, Bank Jatim and Bank Jateng. The former is the largest bank in East Java and jumps in at 943rd position, while the latter is a regional cash-holding bank that offers credits to small entrepreneurs and joins in 988th spot.
Canada, China, Guatemala, India and Oman field one new entrant each: Coast Capital Savings, Nanxun Bank, Bantrab, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank and Bank Nizwa, respectively.
Back in the club
The number of returnees to the Top 1000 in 2023 has dropped significantly. While 28 banks from 19 countries returned last year, this year sees only 18 institutions from eight countries.
Of those that have reappeared in the Top 1000 ranking after a short absence, the Russian lenders are the most numerous, with a total of eight returnees. Most exited last year because the reporting of Russian banking sector data was curtailed as a sanction-proofing measure by the Russian central bank, so the data was not available.
With three banks in the welcome back table, the US has the next greatest number of returnees. These include Midland States Bancorp, Amalgamated Bank and BTC Financial Corp, which have all benefited from the strong dollar among other boosts to their Tier 1.
However, Italy’s Iccrea Banca is the highest returnee this year, coming in at 141st position. Last year, its data was not available in time to be included in the Top 1000. Ukraine’s PrivatBank has also returned due to accessible data. This is the main reason for many of the returnees, including UAE’s Bank of Sharjah.
Switzerland’s Obwaldner Kantonalbank, which exited the Top 1000 in 2022 due to insufficient Tier 1 capital to meet the minimum threshold, is back in the elite club once again. It increased its core capital by 1.4%, to $562m.
