China continues to search for antidotes to an ailing economy and the deterioration of its real estate market, and the banking sector continues to expand. GDP growth rose to 5.2% in 2023, up from 3% in 2022, but it is now forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fall to 4.8% in 2024 and further, to 4.5%, the following year. Meanwhile, China has contributed to balance sheet growth for each of the institutions that earned a place in our ranking of the biggest emerging market banks.

China claims the top 15 spots and 25 entries overall out of 50, with an average increase in assets of 7%; together, the country accounts for 90% of aggregate assets represented in our ranking.

India has posted high GDP growth in recent years, including 8.2% last year, according to the IMF, and the five Indian banks that earned a place in our top 50 have expanded strongly as well. In 2023—our year-end for these rankings—HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private sector bank, completed its merger with India’s largest housing finance company, like-named HDFC Ltd., boosting the bank’s assets by 50% in the country’s largest M&A deal to date. The remaining four Indian banks in our ranking averaged 7.5% balance sheet expansion during 2023.

While South Korea’s economy has rebounded this year, GDP slid to a three-year low of 1.4% in 2023, likely contributing to asset growth under 1% for all seven of the Korean banks represented in our ranking.

A broader picture emerges when looking at the 50 biggest emerging market banks without the dominant Chinese institutions. This view broadens the global scope of the top 20 alone, where China holds 19 spots. The expanded view adds three more Indian banks, for a total of eight, as well as representions from Africa, Latin America and more from the Middle East.

Global Finance’s 2024 ranking of the world’s 50 largest banks highlights institutions that have built powerful franchises in their respective markets, with extensive rosters of corporate, commercial, and retail clients. Their sheer size makes them industry leaders, and by leveraging thier diverse banking platforms they have grown their balance sheets.

Additionally, banks that earned a place in our 2024 ranking are highly influential in shaping the industry’s best practices, with the deep resources needed to attract top talent and develop innovative products and services.

Balance sheets for the top 50 expanded 4% in 2023, giving them aggregate assets of $92.8 trillion: a turnaround following a 2% decline for last year’s winners.

Chinese banks have consistently ranked as the world’s largest; this year, they hold the top four positions in our ranking, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on top at more than $6.2 trillion in assets. The top four banks averaged 11% asset growth and the 15 Chinese banks in the top 50 posted an average 6% year-over-year (YoY) increase.

In Japan, the three banks included in our ranking—Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui, and Mizuho—all suffered an average 5% balance sheet contraction in 2023, which could be seen as a reflection of the country’s difficulty sustaining economic growth.

Euro area economies had similar challenges, with an average of less than 1% GDP growth in 2023, according to the IMF. The 14 eurozone banks in our top 50 averaged a 1% increase in assets. YoY changes include new entrants Banque Federative du Credit Mutuel at No. 47 and State Bank of India at No. 49, replacing Norinchukin Bank and CaixaBank.

The common thread running through this year’s country winners is the resilience they demonstrated during a period of higher interest rates linked to central bank efforts to tame rising inflation. Now, inflation is declining globally and central banks have begun to ease rates as their focus shifts to sustaining economic growth.

That means banks face a different set of challenges and opportunities. The pace of rate cuts is particularly important for those in developing and frontier economies, which stand to gain from an interest rate stance that favors growth following a prolonged period of elevated rates and sluggish GDP. During that stretch, sovereign rating downgrades, particularly in developing and frontier countries, were often the catalyst for follow-on ratings action on their respective banking systems.

Most of our 16 new country winners were in these developing markets. The overall picture was mixed; however, many jurisdictions saw positive developments, including rating upgrades that benefited their banks.

Negative credit trends and the withdrawal of bank ratings resulted in new winners in three Latin American markets. Following Ecuador’s sovereign debt downgrade last year, due to its deteriorating funding and liquidity profile, Fitch downgraded several Ecuadoran banks as well. However, they maintained Produbanco’s rating, confirming the latter as this year’s winner.

In Bolivia, S&P’s withdrew the remaining rating of incumbent Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz, allowing Banco de Credito to claim the top spot. Similarly in Venezuela, Fitch withdrew its rating of last year’s winner, Mercantil Banco Universal, leaving no rated candidates in that country.

Western Europe sees three new winners this year. Hellenic Bank takes the top spot in Cyprus, aided by a Fitch sovereign debt upgrade and improved bank credit fundamentals. With its leading position as the largest bank in Denmark, Danske Bank is a new winner following a two-notch upgrade by Moody’s in May reflecting improved governance controls in response to findings of deficiencies in its Estonian operations. Fitch cited this operational remediation as well as improved profitability and capitalization as the bases for its upgrade last fall. Islandsbanki is our new winner in Iceland as the bank picked up a new Moody’s rating in September 2023, edging out incumbent Arion banki this year.

Moody’s upgraded its ratings for five Azerbaijani banks, including the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), based in part on improving trends in the country’s economy, including efforts to diversify beyond the oil sector. While IBA’s score is equal to last year’s winner, Kapital Bank, IBA is larger, earning it the top spot for 2024.

Likewise, in Georgia, TBC Bank is slightly bigger than last year’s winner, Bank of Georgia, giving TBC the Safest Bank title. In Turkey, Fitch and Moody’s upgraded a range of banks following their upgrade of Turkey’s sovereign debt and reflecting increased confidence in the new macroeconomic policies the government implemented last year. These in turn benefit the banking sector, in part by improving access to foreign funding. Each agency acted on up to 17 banks. When the dust settled, Turkiye Garanti Bankasi emerged as this year’s winner. (Fitch upgraded 24 Turkish banks in September, but this rating action occurred after our ratings cutoff date of August 16, 2024.)

Indonesia’s largest bank, state-owned Bank Mandiri, benefits from its leading franchise, solid credit profile, and an improving operating environment. As it is a systemically important domestic bank, both Fitch and S&P cited enhanced levels of government support as the rationale for their upgrade of Mandiri, allowing it to take the top spot.

Under our methodology, a bank that is wholly owned by its parent is ineligible. In Cambodia, ACLEDA is the new winner, as the incumbent, Advanced Bank of Asia, is a 100% owned subsidiary of National Bank of Canada.

Similarly, First Iraq Islamic Bank emerges as a new winner after S&P initiated coverage and incumbent Trade Bank of Iraq was downgraded by Fitch. Citing an improved strategic mandate that will contribute to United Arab Emirates’ economic transformation and a high level of implied government support, S&P upgraded Emirates Development Bank, helping it unseat First Abu Dhabi Bank as the safest in the UAE.

Stanbic Bank Kenya unseated KCB Bank Kenya (KCB). Fitch and Moody’s each downgraded KCB following a lowering of Kenya’s sovereign rating. Stanbic Bank Kenya is not rated by Moody’s and dodged a Fitch downgrade due to its 75% ownership by South Africa’s Standard Bank Group. Securing a new bank rating frequently provides a critical boost in our scoring model: Our winner in Ivory Coast, new entrant Banque Internationale, benefited from Fitch initiating rating coverage that began last December.

To be eligible for inclusion in Global Finance’s Safest Banks By Country, institutions must rank among the world’s largest 1,000 banks by assets and carry at least one long-term foreign currency deposit or debt rating from one of the three major rating agencies. Wholly owned subsidiaries are ineligible. Criteria are broader than for our global rankings, which require a position among the largest 500 banks and rating by at least two agencies.       

Islamic banks based in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries continue to expand their reach, taking on Shariah-compliant transactions in new industries and establishing new strategic partnerships.

That aggressive approach has already paid off in years of double-digit growth, and the outlook remains favorable. Moody’s forecasts strong profitability over the next 12-18 months based on solid economic growth in GCC countries, robust commercial activity, and government initiatives that give Islamic finance a bigger role in diversifying the region’s economies.

Part of this growth will come from financing new asset classes. As Islamic banks are required to back every transaction with a tangible asset, real estate has been a large component; but the sector is broadening its reach to include telecommunications and airline assets and sustainability projects. Fueling this expansion is strong issuance of Shariah-compliant sukuk bonds. According to Moody’s, year-over-year issuance of sukuk in the GCC states rose 138% to $69 billion as of June, with Saudi Arabia accounting for 37% of total issuance.

The Gulf’s Islamic banks look to build on this momentum through strategic partnerships. With the recent launch of ADIB Ventures, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), which tops our rankings, aims to accelerate its digital transformation, collaborating with technology firms to build its own fintech ecosystem. The bank expects this will help it leverage artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies to identify and launch new Islamic banking solutions. In June, ADIB formed a strategic collaboration with DIFC Innovation Hub, the largest financial technology accelerator in the Middle East, which works with clients in Africa and South Asia as well.

This year’s ranking of the safest Islamic banks once again reveals some notable changes.

In March, Fitch upgraded Qatar’s sovereign debt rating, then subsequently boosted the ratings of three Qatari-based banks. Partly on the strength of these upgrades, Qatar Islamic Bank moved up to No. 2 in our rankings from No. 5, Dukhan Bank advanced two spots to No. 6, and Qatar International Islamic Bank moved up two places to No. 7.

Ahli United Bank leaves our ranking due to its acquisition by Kuwait Finance House, creating the second-largest Islamic bank, behind Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi. This allowed Warba bank to enter the ranking at No. 10.

For the commercial banking sector, continuous innovation, strong product development and customer service, and effective risk management are just some of the critical elements necessary to sustain and grow a franchise. The banks included among our 50 Safest Commercial Banks continue to demonstrate leadership in their respective markets to earn a spot in this year’s rankings.

The interest rate cycle has shifted in many jurisdictions, as central bank policy has now adopted an easing stance following a period of elevated interest rates necessary to battle inflation. During this time, much of the sector enjoyed healthy profitability bolstered by expanding net interest margins. However, as central banks continue to cut rates to maintain economic growth, it remains to be seen how long banks can sustain these margins as successive rate cuts take hold.

To maintain growth and profitability, these institutions must continue to embrace innovation to boost revenue and increase the efficiency of bank operations. In recent years, the sector has focused on honing its digital offerings with online and mobile banking platforms to provide customizable solutions and powerful apps with user-friendly interfaces and dashboards, to better attract and serve clients. While this involves leveraging vast amounts of bank data to identify and target new customers and products, many banks are accelerating this process by utilizing generative AI technology to unlock valuable insights from this data more rapidly, for the development of new services, automation of internal processes and workflows, and elevation of the bank’s risk management capabilities to better manage inherent risks related to cybersecurity, fraud protection, and compliance issues.

In addition to solid operating performance by many banks, regulatory requirements are also contributing to enhanced capital positions. This has resulted in ratings upgrades and consequent movements in our rankings. Australian banks made the biggest of those moves, as Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ Group, National Australia Bank, and Westpac each rose 10 spots year-over-year and now place among our top 10. This follows upgrades by Moody’s and Fitch during the first half of 2024 that reflect the implementation of a formal resolution-planning framework that also involved an increase in loss-absorbing capital buffers at these banks. This development is designed to ensure stability in the Australian financial system, as these banks collectively represent over 70% of banking system assets.

In many instances, upgrades to a country’s sovereign ratings have a follow-on impact on the ratings of their banks, given the increased ability of the government to support the banking sector. In March, Fitch upgraded the sovereign rating of Qatar to AA, subsequently boosting the ratings of seven Qatari banks including Qatar National Bank, which moved up 11 places to No. 31.

Additional moves as a result of positive rating action include UBS, which rose eight spots in our ranking to No. 21 as a result of a Moody’s upgrade to Aa2 in May 2024. This upgrade reflected the Credit Suisse acquisition, which added additional long-term debt providing loss-absorbing benefits. The bank has stabilized the Credit Suisse franchise following its acquisition in 2023.

With its leading position as the largest bank in Denmark, Danske Bank jumped into the rankings at No. 39 following Moody’s two-notch upgrade of the bank’s long-term debt rating to A1 from A3 in May. This reflected an improvement in governance controls following deficiencies in the bank’s Estonia operations. Fitch cited this operational remediation as well as improved profitability and capitalization as a basis for its upgrade to A+ from A in Sept. 2023. NongHyup Bank benefited from a Moody’s upgrade in November 2023 to Aa3 from A1, and is a new entrant at No. 45.

Under the methodology for the World’s Safest Banks rankings, commercial banks that are majority state owned or receive sponsorship by their governments or regional bodies are excluded. Institutions here may operate in the same markets as state-sponsored competitors but don’t benefit from government backing. Additionally, institutions that are wholly owned by their parent company are ineligible under our criteria.

The institutions in our 50 Safest Emerging Markets Banks rankings are facing a challenging operating environment from rising geopolitical tensions, potential disruptions of global trade, and commodity price volatility. Many banks have posted solid operating performance in recent years, as successive interest rate hikes reduced inflation in their regions and globally and also boosted profitability with expanded net interest margins. Now, as central banks begin to ease interest rates to support their respective economies, the banking sector will focus on sustaining profitability in a lower-rate environment by expanding their loan portfolio and other products.

In the Asia-Pacific region, China’s economy continues to struggle, burdened by a depressed real estate market and weak consumer demand. Growth forecasts indicate further deterioration, with projected GDP of 4.9% in 2024, down from 5.2% last year and falling to 4.5% in 2025, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Further deterioration in the Chinese economy presents a risk of contagion regionally and globally, with trade disruptions.

South Korea is vulnerable under this scenario, as China is one of its largest trading partners. But the country is on solid footing, bolstered by a strong consumer-technology sector and a semiconductor industry that is enjoying record exports. The South Korean banking sector’s strength is evident in our rankings, holding the top three spots and placing eight banks among the top 15. However, with the OECD’s GDP growth outlook for 2024 revised downward slightly from the organization’s earlier forecasts, to 2.5%, policy makers at the Bank of Korea are looking to ease interest rates.

Taiwanese banks are also well represented in our ranking and place eight institutions among our Top 50. Taiwan’s critical role in the semiconductor sector, combined with trade tension between the United States and China, carries its own set of geopolitical risks.

Chinese banks hold nine positions on our list, up from eight last year. China Merchants Bank is a new entrant.

In the Middle East, which places 18 banks across four countries in our Top 50 Emerging Markets rankings, the danger of a widening conflict between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries poses significant risks to the region’s banking systems and economies. As China’s demand for oil has declined, given its weakening economy, any escalation in the current war could potentially destabilize the oil supply from the region.

Year-to-year changes in our rankings are the result of a number of factors, including expected ratings fluctuations and other elements of our selection methodology. While Emirates Development Bank has a smaller balance sheet than its emerging markets peers on this list, it enters our ranking this year at No. 5 because it now has an asset size that puts it among the top 500 banks with two agency ratings—a requirement under our methodology. Additionally, the bank’s ranking was bolstered by an upgrade to AA by S&P in May.

In many instances, upgrades to a country’s sovereign ratings have a follow-on impact on the ratings of their banks, given the increased ability of the government to support the banking sector. This is the case in Qatar, where Fitch upgraded the sovereign rating to AA in March and subsequently boosted the ratings of seven Qatari banks, five of which are represented in our rankings. Qatar National Bank thus moved up five spots to No. 7, while Qatar Islamic Bank rose 11 places to No. 30. New entrants as a result of this sovereign upgrade include Dukhan Bank at No. 44, Qatar International Islamic Bank at No. 46, and Ahli Bank at No. 47.

In South Korea, a Moody’s upgrade of Suhyup Bank last November helped it to rise 10 spots in our ranking to No. 32. UAE-based Mashreq Bank rose seven places to No. 42 as a result of a Moody’s upgrade in May 2024. Year to year, industry consolidation is a frequent catalyst for position changes, and Ahli United Bank is no longer represented following its acquisition and integration by Kuwait Finance House, now at No. 37. China Merchants Bank is also a new entrant at No. 48 following an S&P upgrade to A- in March. Consequently, these events and upgrades pushed Banque Saudi Fransi, Arab National Bank, and Saudi Awwal Bank out of the rankings. It’s important to note that, with these upgrades, the score cutoff for inclusion in our 50 Safest Emerging Markets Banks rose to 13 points from 12.5 points last year.

Global banks face competing priorities. While a shifting interest rate cycle forces them to compete in a new landscape, they must continue to focus on transforming their business models to maintain revenue growth and profitability.

This will be an especially big challenge for banks in regions and countries that are experiencing weak GDP growth. Significant geopolitical risks remain as well, as the Israel-Hamas war widens and the conflict in Ukraine and Russia drags on.

This year’s ranking of the World’s Safest Banks recognizes institutions that have demonstrated consistency and success in their operations during a period of uncertainty while broadening and enhancing their banking services.

Prolonged high interest rates aimed at combatting inflation have given way to easing in many economies, as moderating inflation encourages central bankers to focus on maintaining economic growth. For G20 countries, overall inflation is forecast to decline from 6.1% in 2023 to 5.4% in 2024 and 3.3% in 2025, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Core inflation—excluding food and energy—is projected to fall from 4.2% in 2023 to 2.7% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025. The inflation trend is approaching central bank targets and is expected to be in line with them by next year.

As countries and regions aimed for an economic soft landing after the pandemic, many avoided a severe downturn. The result is global GDP growth forecast at 3.2% for 2024 and 2025, up slightly from 3.1% in 2023, according to the OECD. While some major economies experienced sluggish growth as central banks tightened, notably the eurozone, the UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan, these jurisdictions face a more promising outlook as 2025 GDP forecasts improve.

For global banks, the prospect is cloudier. Many of them benefited during the high interest rate period, their profitability boosted by higher levels of net interest income thanks to favorable interest rate margins on their loan portfolios. Maintaining those margins may be a challenge, however, depending on how quickly loans reprice at lower rates and how competition for customer deposits responds.

Many developed countries have instituted new resolution frameworks aimed at enhancing banks’ capital positions, contributing to rating upgrades and, in turn, movements in our rankings.

Such was the case this year in Australia, whose major banks made the biggest moves in our rankings. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ, National Australia Bank, and Westpac each rose 13 spots year-over-year and now place among the 25 safest banks. This follows upgrades by Moody’s and Fitch during the first half of 2024, reflecting implementation of a formal resolution-planning framework that also included an increase in loss-absorbing capital buffers.

These changes are designed to ensure stability in the Australian financial system, as the four largest institutions collectively represent over 70% of the banking system’s assets.

As their Australian counterparts moved up, Industrial Bank of Korea, DNB Bank, Bank of Taiwan, and Banque Pictet were each pushed down four places. While Emirates Development Bank has a comparatively small balance sheet relative to its peers, it enters our ranking this year at No. 30 and now ranks among the top 500 banks by asset size with two agency ratings. Under our methodology, in the event two banks have an identical score, asset size is the tiebreaker. This is evident in the case of No. 18, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise; and No. 19, SFIL, which swapped positions this year.

Global Finance’s rankings cover the world’s largest 500 banks by asset size and are calculated based on long-term foreign currency ratings issued by Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor’s, and Moody’s Investors Service. Our methodology requires a rating from at least two of these agencies. We source the largest 500 banks with at least two agency ratings from a universe of approximately 1,000 banks, as not all banks hold two agency ratings.

Where possible, ratings on holding companies rather than operating companies are used, and banks that are wholly owned by other banks are omitted. Within each rank set, banks are organized according to asset size based on data for the most recent annual reporting period provided by Fitch Solutions and Moody’s. Ratings are reproduced with permission from the three rating agencies, with all rights reserved. A ranking is not a recommendation to purchase, sell, or hold a security, and does not comment on market price or suitability for a particular investor. All ratings in the tables were valid as of August 16, 2024.

With China’s struggling economy, the country’s banking sector is facing significant growth headwinds, as policymakers attempt to halt the deteriorating economy with a recent wave of monetary and fiscal measures. The economy has been mired in a slump, due in part to the ongoing real estate crisis that involves large inventories of unsold housing units and unfinished properties. The slowdown in property sales has made it difficult for real estate developers to deliver completed houses on schedule, so new home sales declined 25%, year-over-year (YoY), in the first eight months of 2024. Consequently, the economy is battling strong deflationary pressure due to weak consumer confidence and demand, and to this prolonged downturn in a sector that generates 24% of the nation’s GDP. Structural issues of high youth unemployment and low wage growth only exacerbate the problem.

More broadly, expanding trade wars are undercutting momentum for a recovery. Trade tension with the United States recently ramped up with new tariffs on an additional $18 billion in Chinese products, including electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels. However, $13 billion of that applies to EV lithium-ion batteries, which is significant since importation of Chinese products has grown—now representing over 70% of EV battery imports.

Trade issues continue to spread in other regions. Following an investigation by the European Commission concluding that the EV industry in China is aided by “unfair subsidies,” the European Union announced additional tariffs of 17%-38% on these vehicles over the existing tariff of 10%. In Latin America, Mexico aims to replace Chinese supply chains by moving production from China to Mexico. This will add fuel to a significant trend, as Mexico has now replaced China as the largest trading partner with the US for the first time in more than 20 years. Imports from Mexico rose nearly 5% from 2022 to 2023, to more than $475 billion; while overall Chinese exports to the US fell 20% in 2023 to $427 billion, according to the US Department of Commerce.

These enormous challenges are difficult to overcome, and the Chinese economy continues to deteriorate. Its GDP is forecast by the International Monetary Fund to decline to 5% in 2024 from 5.3% in 2023, falling to 4.5% in 2025. To help bolster the weakening economy and ailing real estate sector, China’s Ministry of Finance was reported in September to be planning its latest round of policy measures to include a stimulus package with the issuance of 2 trillion renminbi ($282 billion) in special sovereign bonds. Half are earmarked for local government debt problems, and half to subsidize the purchase of consumer goods and to provide a monthly allowance for families with two or more children.

The plan also allows local governments to issue bonds for the purchase of land and unsold housing inventories from developers to remove some of the oversupply in the real estate sector. However, many local governments have high debt levels and are limited in taking on additional debt. These measures attempt to build on earlier initiatives. At the beginning of 2024, regulators identified over 5,700 projects that needed support and added over $200 billion in financing to allow 4 million homes to be completed. Nevertheless, millions more remain presold but not completed. Monetary policy measures by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) involve plans to ease the bank reserve-requirement ratio by 50 basis points (bps). Another cut of 25-50 bps may occur before the end of the year in a move that will free up bank funds for loan expansion.

Additionally, with low demand for credit by the country’s borrowers, authorities reduced the loan prime rate, the benchmark lending rate, including specific relief on mortgages. The down payment was reduced to 15% from 25% for second-time homebuyers. As consumer confidence and personal consumption continue to slide, a more powerful policy tool involves reducing the interest on existing mortgages. This could cut the mortgage payment burden by $21 billion annually and provide a much-needed boost in consumer demand.

As China’s banking sector navigates this difficult operating environment, bank managers continue to reduce their exposure to the real estate sector. According to S&P Global, the share of real estate loans out of total loans fell to 26% in 2023 from 32% in 2020, while exposure at five of the largest banks fell to 29% of loans in 2023 from 37% in 2020. Additionally, the sector is targeting the infrastructure, manufacturing, and technology sectors that are experiencing double-digit growth in 2024. Additional policy measures to support the banking sector include the possible injection of ¥1 trillion into state-owned banks to boost their capacity to support the economy. To support bank profitability, the PBoC lowered deposit rates to increase bank lending margins.

Recognizing consistent ratings stability, our rankings include only one change YoY. In the case of a tied score, our methodology uses asset size as a tiebreaker, and Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank replaces the Bank of Chongqing in 25th place.

The scoring methodology for the Safest Chinese Banks follows that used in our other Safest Banks rankings. A rating of AAA is assigned a score of 10 points, AA+ receives nine points, down to BBB- worth one point, BB+ worth -1 point, and so on. When a bank has only two ratings, an implied score for the third rating is calculated by taking the average of the other two and deducting one point. When a bank has only one rating, an implied score for the second rating is calculated by deducting one point from the actual rating, and an implied score for the third rating is calculated by deducting two points from the actual rating.

Banks face an uphill battle as supply chains remain disrupted, regional conflicts continue to build, and the fear of bank failure returns. Despite this, select financial institutions have threaded the needle and delivered stellar performances to their clients and shareholders over the past year.

JPMorgan Chase takes the top honor as Global Finance’s World’s Best Bank for 2024, as well as the World’s Best Investment Bank and World’s Best Private Bank. The global giant won its laurels thanks to a broad range of client offerings and solid financials while helping to arrest a series of US bank failures with its acquisition of First Republic Bank. Industry leadership, advancements in digitalization and corporate citizenship also factored in.

Throughout 2023, JPMorgan Chase raised $2.3 trillion in extended credit and new capital for its consumer and institutional clients while moving $10 trillion in over 120 currencies daily. For its 6.4 million small-business clients, the bank broadened its suite of payment acceptance offerings, including invoicing and a tap-to-pay option allowing merchants to accept card payments via their mobile devices.

The world dodged a global recession in 2023 as global output growth shrank to 3.3% from 3.5% in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund’s July World Economic Outlook 2024. Advanced economies, the Middle East and Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa suffered dips in growth ranging from 0.9% to 3.4%. Only the emerging and developing economies in Europe and Asia experienced growth, their respective outputs growing by 2% and 0.3%. However, after 12 months of monetary tightening, the global economy is projected to grow 3.2% in 2024 and 3.3% in 2025 as long as inflation remains in check, according to the report’s authors.

The high-profile failure in March 2023 of the regional Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which relied heavily on uninsured deposits, had many banks checking the models they use to determine asset correlations to which they might be exposed. SVB’s collapse quickly spread to Signature Bank and First Republic Bank, which shared similar characteristics, leading to the second-, third- and fourth-largest bank failures in US history.

The banks “failed as a result of a combination of unrealized interest rate losses from their long-term, fixed-rate assets and the loss of the low-rate deposits that had funded these assets,” Larry Wall, research center executive director of the Atlanta Fed’s Center for Financial Innovation and Stability, explained in a blog post. “Longtime observers of the financial system will see a parallel with the 1980s thrift debacle, in which approximately 1,300 savings and loans and savings banks failed, due in large part to their exposure to interest rate risk and their loss of the low-rate deposits that had been used to fund these assets.”

This time, the failures disproportionally affected the venture capital-backed tech startup sector that these banks catered to. In a letter to UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, the leaders of 180 tech companies said, “The loss of deposits has the potential to cripple the sector and send the ecosystem back 20 years.

The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s quick response to the banks’ failures stemmed additional contagion and has left businesses with an object lesson in concentration risk.

Along with the World’s Best Bank, global honors this year include awards for Best Corporate Bank, Best Consumer Bank, Best Banks Worldwide in Emerging and Frontier Markets and Best Sub-Custodian Bank. All are being announced here for the first time. Previously announced honors include Best Global Transaction Bank, Best Bank for Sustainable Finance, Best Islamic Financial Institution, Best Investment Bank, Best Cash Management Bank, Best Trade-Finance providers, Best Supply Chain Finance providers, Best Foreign Exchange Provider, Best Private Bank, and Best SME Bank.         —Robert Daly

The editors of Global Finance, with input from industry analysts, corporate executives and technology experts, selected the global winners for the World’s Best Banks 2024 using information provided by entrants as well as independent research based on objective and subjective factors.

Entries are not required, but experience shows that the information supplied in an entry can increase the chance of success. In many cases, entrants present details that may not be readily available to the editors.

Judges considered performance from January 1 to December 31, 2023. Global Finance applies a proprietary algorithm to shorten the list of contenders and arrive at a numerical score, with 100 signifying perfection. The algorithm weights a range of criteria for relative importance, including knowledge of the sector, market conditions and customer needs, financial strength and safety, strategic relationships and governance, capital investment and innovation, scope of global coverage, size and experience of staff, risk management, range of products and services and use of technology. The panel tends to favor private-sector banks over government-owned institutions.

The winners are those banks and providers that best serve the specialized needs of corporations engaged in global business.

In 2023, JPMorgan Chase not only managed to grow its business lines, maintain its fortress balance sheet and continue innovating, but also helped stabilize the US financial system. After last year’s collapse of First Republic Bank, the second-largest bank failure in US history, which followed the high-profile failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, JPMorgan stepped in to acquire a substantial majority of First Republic’s assets for $10.6 billion. The transaction netted JPMorgan approximately $173 billion in loans, $92 billion in deposits, and $30 billion in securities.

Outside that acquisition, the bank generated a net income of roughly $49.6 billion, up about 32% year-on-year, from revenue of approximately $158.1 billion, with solid performances from most business lines. Corporate & Investment Bank, rebranded as Commercial and Investment Bank in January 2024, contributed a net income of $14 billion from $49 billion in revenue. Its Consumer & Community Banking business added a substantial amount of retail branches and advisers and leads the First Republic integration. The Commercial Banking business more than doubled its new client relationships, while the Asset & Wealth Management business increased client assets under management to $5 trillion from $4 trillion the previous year.

JPMorgan also invested significantly in artificial intelligence and machine learning, identifying 400 instances where the technology can improve fraud detection. The bank also minted a Chief Data & Analytics Office,r who has a seat on its Operating Committee and approved adding four new data centers to its existing 32 facilities. Furthermore, the bank has increased its adoption of cloud computing by having 70% of its applications in the cloud, up from 50% in 2022, and 75% of its data stored in the cloud, up from 70% the previous year.   —Robert Daly

Chairman & CEO — Jamie Dimon

https://www.jpmorganchase.com

Despite the global economy dealing with rising inflation, trade conflicts and bank failures, BBVA returned as the World’s Best Corporate Bank award winner for a second year. The bank’s Corporate and Business Banking (CBB) unit contributed €2.25 billion ($2.48 billion) in net attributable profit, a 44.5% year-on-year increase. Geographically, its operations in Mexico and Turkey contributed the most (29% each), while its operations in Spain, South America and the rest of the business contributed 15%, 13% and 15%, respectively. Driving the growth was a 16% increase in net fees and commissions across all businesses.

CBB also saw its cross-border business grow by more than 30% in 2023, fueled by nearshoring operations in Mexico, the US and Asia. The cross-border activity represented over 35% of CBB’s activity for the year.

Wholesale banking cannot be discussed without mentioning sustainability, as the two are tightly intertwined at BBVA. The bank is known for developing inaugural and subsequent green and social bonds for the European and Latin American markets. However, BBVA has expanded its sustainable offerings and created a global unit providing financing for clean technology like hydrogen and biofuels, energy storage, mobility, and carbon-capture technologies; advisory services that evaluate and classify suppliers based on sustainable criteria and the staff’s specialized expertise; and consultation tools like carbon footprint calculators.   —RD

Global Head of Sustainability and Corporate & Investment Banking — Javier Rodríguez Soler

https://www.bbva.com/

Investing in high-growth banking sectors like consumer banking and taking a digital-first approach has paid off handsomely for Standard Chartered, the year’s winner of the World’s Best Consumer Bank award.

The bank’s Consumer, Private & Business Banking unit contributed $2.49 billion in pre-tax underlying profit while increasing its mass retail client base to 9.5 million clients, a million more than the previous year. At the same time, retail product income increased by 26%, and deposit income grew by 74%.

The bank’s digital strategy enables it to provide more personalized, relevant, real-time product offerings and sharpens its onboarding and engagement capabilities. As a result, the percentage of digital sales grew to 56%, up 8% from the previous year.

The bank continues working internally to grow its mass retailbusiness by scaling sustainability through partnerships, digital client engagements and automation. Standard Chartered has eight such mass retail partnerships in production across China, Indonesia and Singapore that serve more than 2.6 million clients. One such partnership is with Singapore’s all-digital Trust Bank, backed by Standard Chartered and grocery retailer FairPrice Group. Since its founding in September 2022, Trust Bank has grown to become the fourth-largest retail bank in the city-state, with a 12% market share, 700,000 clients, and $1.4 billion in deposits.   —RD

CEO, Wealth and Retail Banking — Judy Hsu

https://www.sc.com

Qatar National Bank (QNB) won the World’s Best Emerging Markets Bank award for its growth, digitalization efforts and expansion in emerging markets. In 2023, the bank grew its net profit by 8% to 15.5 billion Qatari riyals ($4.25 billion) while increasing its deposits by 2% to 857 billion riyals and loans by 853 billion riyals.

The bank, which operates in 28 countries on three continents, has taken a cross-pollination approach to digitalization by leveraging intellectual property and technology developed throughout its organization. A prime example is QNB’s digital bank, Enpara. Founded in Turkey in 2012 and recently gaining approval to become a deposit bank, it caters to small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) and retail clients. The experience in delivering products such as deposits, accounts, cards, facilities, transfers and payments helped develop and launch QNB Bebasata digital bank in Egypt, a subsidiary of QNB Alahli, in March 2023. Since going live, the new digital bank ended the year with 20,000 clients.

QNB is also awaiting approval from Saudi bank regulators to launch a digital-only bank in partnership with Ajlan & Bros Holding, targeting SME and consumer clientele. Meanwhile, the bank expanded its presence in Saudi Arabia by opening its second branch in Jeddah. It opened its first branch in the capital, Riyadh, in 2017.

Aside from technology, QNB aims to attract new deposits and grow its wealth management business in its Indonesian operations by offering new products, such as mutual funds, bancassurance and government bonds, which are offered in other markets under the QNB First luxury brand.       —RD

Group CEO — Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa

https://www.qnb.com

Serving over 25 million corporate, commercial and consumer clients across 20 sub-Saharan countries, United Bank for Africa (UBA) has won the World’s Best Frontier Markets award for its service and performance in some of the fastest-growing markets worldwide.

Through its prudent lending approach, robust risk management, and geographic diversification, the bank nearly doubled its deposits to 17.36 trillion Nigerian naira ($10.82 billion) in 2023 from 8.99 trillion naira in 2022. Over the same period, it grew its loan book by 61% to 5.55 trillion naira. As a result, its pre-tax profits rose 277.2% to 757.7 billion naira.

UBA provides micro, small and midsize enterprise financing to approximately 32,000 SME clients, a 45% increase from the previous year. It also provides access to more than 1,000 branches, a network of 2,676 ATMs and roughly 300,000 point-of-sale machines.

To spur regional growth, the bank has pledged up to $6 billion in financing in partnership with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) over the next three years to empower SMEs across the continent. It was also one of six African banks that signed a memorandum of understanding with the Pan-African Payment Settlement System (PAPSS) to further growth in trade.

UBA has also implemented “smart automation,” such as robotic process automation and artificial intelligence, to reduce costs, improve productivity and minimize errors. Several more examples are in development.            —RD

Group Managing Director/CEO  — Oliver Alawuba

https://www.ubagroup.com

With deep resources and outstanding post-trade capabilities, CIBC Mellon is again recognized as the Best Sub-Custodian Bank award winner. In addition to custody, CIBC Mellon’s investment-servicing solutions also provide clients with multicurrency accounting, fund administration, recordkeeping, pension services, securities-lending services, foreign exchange settlement, and treasury services. Scale and automation are critical elements for a sub-custodian to deliver efficiency and security in the settlement process.

CIBC Mellon continues to refine its business model by leveraging the most advanced technology. As the product of a 50/50 joint venture between BNY Mellon’s and CIBC, significant resources are available that contribute to infrastructure and process enhancements for the automation and standardization of services.

One example is CIBC Mellon’s adoption of BNY’s Nexen digital information-delivery platform, which uses data analytics services to help clients by giving faster, real-time cash position and activity reporting through an improved interface for easier access from any mobile device. The firm continues to bring BNY’s technological advancements into global custody by using trade analytics to reduce the impact of trades that settle late. As millions of trades are settled each month, there are significant costs associated with late settlement. To help determine the probability of a trade settling late, CIBC Mellon uses a predictive AI engine, thus increasing market efficiency and cost savings for clients.

Leveraging data analytics is a priority. CIBC Mellon’s recently announced strategic collaboration with Duco, a leading software-as-a-service provider of AI-powered data automation, will contribute to lowering operational risk and streamlining processes for greater efficiency.   —David Sanders

CEO — Mal Cullen

https://www.cibcmellon.com/

Bank of America (BofA), our award winner as Best Bank for Transaction Banking and Best Bank for Collections, works closely with large global organizations that have accounts in multiple currencies, helping them to create liquidity strategies to optimize working capital and weather unpredictable market dynamics. According to Mark Monaco, head of Global Transaction Services, it involves bringing awareness of BofA’s existing solutions, built over the years, and then proactively advising clients on which ones address the various challenges they may face, such as forecasting, increasing costs, and the need to optimize return on cash. “Many corporates have limited experience dealing with uncertainty, especially when combined with very high interest rates, and are unsure how to plan or adjust,” says Monaco. “Some may lack the appropriate treasury management solutions or may not know how to maximize liquidity process efficiency.”

Higher interest rates make unplanned funding shortfalls more expensive, he adds. “These shortfalls are more likely if a company has not fully automated its processes. Resistance to making operational investments when interest rates are high results in many companies looking to cut costs and becoming hesitant to make substantial investments in treasury management solutions.”

As rates change, treasurers may be unsure about how to continue optimizing the value of cash balances and may fall back on “safe” approaches that may not be flexible enough to keep up with the changing economic environment.

Monaco says that in addition to rising rates, high inflation increases the cost of goods and services, eating into liquidity and cash reserves.

“Another factor impacting the delivery of treasury and cash management solutions is the rapidly changing regulatory environment,” adds Monaco. “Across the world, markets are facing new compliance obligations spurred by developments in real-time payments schemes, AML/KYC [anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer measures], cyber threats, sanctions compliance, and data sharing and localization. Companies and their partner banks are having to enhance and improve both infrastructure and processes as a result.”

BofA brought all payments activities under a new Global Payments Solutions division in recognition of the strategic importance of payments to the bank.     —Gilly Wright

Head of Global Transaction Services — Mark Monaco

https://www.bankofamerica.com

Societe Generale (SocGen) bolstered its reputation for sustainable finance innovation in November when it served as sole manager of the first digital green bond ever issued. The €10 million senior preferred unsecured bond was tokenized and directly registered by SG-Forge on the ethereum public blockchain. Blockchain, says SocGen, can potentially increase the traceability and transparency of ESG-related bonds for both issuers and investors.

SocGen also stands out for its reach and versatility. Last year, it was active in ESG projects on all six inhabited continents, including many parts of Africa, and it remains one of the few commercial banks that has ever issued green, social and sustainable bonds, according to Natixis.

In the project finance sphere, the bank was active on many fronts in 2023, including in October as sole debt financial adviser and mandated lead arranger on Automotive Energy Supply Corporation’s €873 million battery storage factory in France’s Battery Valley. Elsewhere, it helped finance offshore wind projects in Poland and South Korea; onshore renewables in Japan, Australia, Egypt and Vietnam; and critical materials projects in Mongolia and Africa.        —Andrew Singer

Global Head of Sustainable and Positive Impact Finance Solutions — Eric Bonnin

https://www.societegenerale.com/

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) earned its recognition as Best Islamic Financial Institution worldwide thanks to innovation in Islamic financing, a wide geographical footprint and strong operations. KFH is the second-largest Islamic bank globally, providing services to customers in the Middle East, Asia and Europe through extensive distribution channels. It has subsidiaries in Kuwait, Turkey, Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Malaysia, the UK and Germany.

Last year was KFH’s first full year of integration following its 2022 acquisition of Ahli United Bank of Bahrain. Total assets stood at 37.87 billion Kuwaiti dinars at the end of 2023, as net profit jumped to 672 million dinars from 428 million dinars, for a return on average assets of 1.8%. The firm’s overall financial profile is solid, supported by good capitalization and liquidity. Its Islamic banking products and services cover commercial, retail and corporate banking as well as real estate, trade finance and investments.

During 2023, KFH launched Tam Digital Bank, Kuwait’s first Shariah-compliant digital bank. It was also at the forefront in launching several digital services, including detecting biometric facial features in branches, instant printing for all types of cards, its Zaheb digital platform and KFHonline for corporates, digital portfolios to facilitate e-payment and a D-POS device for instant opening of bank accounts.   —Darren Stubing

CEO — Abdulwahab Iesa Alrushood

https://www.kfh.com

With a highly skilled team of investment bankers, J.P. Morgan remains undeterred in the face of geopolitical turmoil to provide exceptional investment banking solutions. In 2023 when, according to Dealogic, global investment banking fees for the industry fell 16% to $66.5 billion, J.P. Morgan was able to retain its top position in global investment banking revenue, capturing an 8.7% revenue market share. Regionally, the bank retained the top spot in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the Asia-Pacific region, apart from Japan, the bank rose to be top fee earner from the fourth position, year-over-year, with improved performance in Southeast Asia, South Korea, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Australasia. This success is the result of a deep and talented team of bankers. J.P. Morgan recognizes the importance of developing its staff by rotating senior management to broaden their roles. The firm recently announced new and increased responsibilities for some key executives to position the investment bank for future success and growth. —DS

Co-CEOs, Commercial & Investment Bank — Jennifer Piepszak and Troy Rohrbaugh

https://www.jpmorgan.com/

Citi, our winner as Best Bank for Cash Management, recently combined Treasury and Trade Solutions and Securities Services under one umbrella. At the June Citi 2024 Services Investor Day, Shahmir Khaliq, head of Services, noted that “it made sense to bring these businesses together under one portfolio, as they have strong synergies across our entire institutional client base.”

“Our clients are looking for fully integrated solutions across the entire continuum of accept, hold, pay and finance as they look to scale quickly and globally,” added Debopama Sen, head of Payments at Citi, at the time. She added that acceptance capabilities are powered by Spring by Citi, an end-to-end digital payment acceptance solution. Hold capabilities include integrated liquidity and a banking-as-a-service offering that allows e-commerce clients to serve their merchants and seller customers. Payment solutions then enable clients to manage payouts globally, including navigation of cross-border complexities. And finally, Sen pointed out that for finance, Citi offers tailored offerings for e-commerce businesses, including the ability to offer flexible financing options and working capital management solutions.        —GW

Head of Services — Shamir Khaliq

https://www.citigroup.com/

With comprehensive trade outsourcing services, BNY Mellon is the bank of choice for other financial institutions looking to avoid high costs without losing trade finance customers. To limit compliance costs, for example, many financial institutions worldwide have restricted the number of Swift’s Relationship Management Application (RMA) exchanges they maintain with their correspondent banks. BNY Mellon developed RMA as a service to help banks route their Swift MT 700 letter of credit messages directly to the beneficiaries’ banks, using BNY Mellon as an intermediary bank for their letter of credit activity.

A multibank supply chain finance program that includes collaboration with fintechs ensures cash optimization for corporate buyers and supports the working capital needs of their suppliers.             —GW

Managing Director and Global Head, Trade Finance Product & Portfolio Group Manager — Joon Kim

https://www.bny.com

Present in over 90 countries, Citi’s supply chain finance (SCF) network supports over 4,000 buyers and 95,000 suppliers. In business for almost 20 years, Citi Supplier Finance’s offering includes digital platforms that streamline processes, seamless technical implementation that is adaptable to various enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and effortless electronic onboarding of suppliers. Recent additions include Citi Dynamic Discounting, which enables cash-rich clients to invest excess liquidity directly into their supply chain and provides liquidity to small and midsize suppliers to improve cash flow. Citi provides a single platform and file transmission for both SCF and dynamic discounting. For suppliers, Citi Supplier Finance offers an app that selects receivables to be discounted via mobile phone.     —GW

Managing Director, Head of Trade and Working Capital Solutions — Chris Cox

https://www.citigroup.com/

Last year was nothing short of historic for our Best Global Foreign Exchange Bank, UBS. Between the takeover of its longtime rival, Credit Suisse, in what analysts call the most important banking M&A in history, and the substantial growth of its foreign exchange (FX) operation in developing markets, the behemoth bank has done it all with unrivaled excellence.

The takeover of its rival’s operation led to substantial growth in clientele and traded volume in European markets, resulting in solid profitability growth. It also led to key additions to UBS’ FX team, further expanding the bank’s knowledge.

At the same time, UBS teams in Asia, the Middle East,and Latin America have kept working relentlessly to improve the bank’s digital offering for emerging market currencies.

As a result of this unmatched year, the Swiss-based giant now ranks as one of the largest private wealth managers in the world, with undisputed market share in Europe. It has also watched its emerging markets FX operation expand into one of the world’s largest, expanding the bank’s offerings to its clients worldwide.

Among the bank’s most significant global technological breakthroughs is UBS’ FX Engine Room, with which the bank can place all analytics in one place for use by its global sales force, thus broadening the footprint of its operations to clients looking to trade currencies on a global scale. —Thomas Monteiro

Group CEO — Sergio Ermotti

https://www.ubs.com

This year’s volatile macroeconomic backdrop did not phase our back-to-back award winner, J.P. Morgan. The global behemoth seized the opportunities that volatility afforded, posting phenomenal growth.

With an increasing focus on high-end clients, JPMorgan Chase’s wealth management division grew its net income an impressive 36% year-on-year (YoY) in the first quarter of 2023, 22% in the second, and 16% in the third. A key driver was JPMorgan Chase’s acquisition of failing First Republic Bank in May 2023, a move that calmed the threat of a deeper crisis in the US banking industry.

Moreover, J.P. Morgan Private Bank kept improving its offerings and global presence. This year, it opened a new US Family Office Practice and added to its teams in Asia and Latin America, while making changes in upper management in both regions.          —TM

CEO — David Frame

https://privatebank.jpmorgan.com

For the second year running, the Brazilian digital bank BTG Pactual Empresas has swept the Best SME Bank awards for Brazil, Latin America and the world. The bank has eased access to capital for micro, small, and midsize enterprises (MSMEs), representing approximately 90% of Brazilian companies.

Clients get a low-touch digital channel, available 24/7, that nevertheless provides a high-touch experience using open banking standards and Brazil’s PIX instant payment system. For example, BTG Pactual Empresas has shortened the time needed to obtain credit to about 30 minutes for clients participating in rural credit programs, solar-power and green financing, and women-owned businesses. Newly opened SME accounts are operable within an hour.

Once an SME account is open, account owners can export their banking data to standard spreadsheets, Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications, instantly reconciling accounts in their ERP systems.

BTG Pactual Empresas provides such additional services as single-sign-on multiuser and multi-business accounts, online invoicing, collection management, budgeting capabilities, foreign currency exchange and digital receipts, along with payroll, insurance, and tax and investment services. Clients can reach expert support anytime via chat, email, WhatsApp and toll-free calling.             —RD

CEO — Roberto Sallouti

https://empresas.btgpactual.com

For many of our winners, ongoing product and process innovation and technology upgrades continue to improve standardization and automation of services critical for operational efficiency and effective risk management. Leadership in their respective regions includes high levels of representation with industry associations to help shape the sector in accordance with best practices, in response to infrastructure and regulatory changes.

With the recent move to a shortened settlement cycle, from two days after the trade date (T+2) to one day (T+1), in the US, Canada, and parts of Latin America, sub-custodians have been an invaluable resource to their clients on the impact of this shift and its benefits. These include reduced counterparty risk, better market liquidity, and an overall improvement in operational efficiency. In Latin America, local sub-custodians are trusted advisers on all market developments, including the planned integration of Chilean, Colombian, and Peruvian exchanges into a regional bourse.

Most sub-custodians embrace advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics, which they leverage to refine their custody infrastructure and improve service quality.