Though the UK's HSBC takes the number one spot in western Europe yet again, it is French banks that are the notable movers further down the ranking.
Russia's bigger banks saw a drop in Tier 1 capital, which has led to a lowering of the overall figure in the central and eastern Europe region.
Profits and Tier 1 capital levels are heading in the right direction across the globe, though assets have suffered a slight decline.
Across all regions, loan-to-deposit ratios are moving in the right direction, with Latin America and the Caribbean making the most impressive progress.
State Savings Bank of Ukraine tops the NPL table but it is Indian lenders who appear to have the most to worry about.
Standard Bank remains the largest bank in Africa by Tier 1 capital and its South African peers round out the top four, but the country's travails have caused their global positions to drop.
In spite of Qatar's blockade by some of its Middle Eastern neighbours, Qatar National Bank has regained its position as the biggest bank in the region by Tier 1 capital.
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan keep first and second place in the trading income rankings, while Bank of America moves into third.
North America saw its share of regional global profits rise in 2018, thanks largely to the performances of US banks.
New arrivals into the Top 1000 are at a decade low, with the total substantially down on 2018's list of banks that made the cut.
A quartet of Brazilian banks are responsible for the lion's share of Latin American capital once more, but the region has experienced mixed fortunes in general.
China’s big four state banks take the top four spots in the Top 1000 again, with their Tier 1 capital growing between 2.46% and 11.37% on last year's results.
While last year's line-up of Japan's banks looks familiar, the underlying numbers tell a less cheerful story.
While the global banking system is safer a decade on from the height of the financial crisis, an uncertain economic environment points towards a slowdown as the figures from The Banker's Top 1000 World Banks ranking for 2019 show.
Australian banks retain their positions at the top of the Asia-Pacific (excluding China and Japan) table, but Vietnam provides much of the region's good news.
While western Europe saw risk-weighted assets drop 6.3%, the overall picture for the Top 1000 was steady on 2018's results. Joy Macknight reports.
There is no change in the top 10 of the North America ranking, though all eyes are on a merger between BB&T and SunTrust.
China Construction Bank displaces Shanghai Pudong Development Bank as the bank with the best cost-to-income ratio.
As western Europe drops from first place in the light of a lower capital adequacy ratio, China improved its soundness by the largest margin.