Standard Bank still holds firm as the biggest bank in the country by assets, according to the S&P Global Market Intelligence rankings for 2018.<\/p>\n
With assets exceeding R2 trillion, the bank is some way ahead of its closest competitor in the rankings, FirstRand, at R1.45 trillion.<\/p>\n
According to S&P Global,\u00a0the global rankings show that Chinese banks continued to expand in 2017, accounting for a fifth (18 banks) of the world’s largest banks, collectively reporting $23.761 trillion in assets at the end of 2017.<\/p>\n
China’s ‘Big Four’ banks – Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China – remained as the top four banks by assets year-over-year, posting a combined $13.637 trillion in assets, up $1.727 trillion since last year’s ranking.<\/p>\n
Half of this growth was due to a strengthening yuan against the US dollar, the group said.<\/p>\n
While the US had the next highest number (11 banks) holding $12.196 trillion in assets, big player Wells Fargo was pushed out of a top 10 spot by France’s Cr\u00e9dit Agricole Group, while other US-based banks also suffered ranking drops.<\/p>\n
Goldman Sachs Group fell three spots last year to 35, Morgan Stanley dropped one spot to 38, and State Street Corp fell 10 spots to 100.<\/p>\n
In South Africa, Standard Bank Group remained the Middle East and Africa region’s third-largest bank by assets. The four other South African lenders in the ranking \u2014 FirstRand, Barclays Africa Group, Nedbank Group and Investec all moved up.<\/p>\n
The table below outlines the biggest banks in South Africa by asset value.<\/p>\n
| #<\/th>\n | Bank<\/th>\n | Assets ($bn)<\/th>\n | Assets (Rbn)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1<\/td>\n | Standard Bank Group<\/td>\n | 163.9<\/td>\n | 2 335.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 2<\/td>\n | FirstRand<\/td>\n | 116.5<\/td>\n | 1 447.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 3<\/td>\n | Absa<\/td>\n | 94.2<\/td>\n | 1 170.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 4<\/td>\n | Nedbank<\/td>\n | 79.5<\/td>\n | 987.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 5<\/td>\n | Investec<\/td>\n | 44.4<\/td>\n | 551.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n To determine the latest ranking, S&P said that a company’s total assets were adjusted for pending mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as M&A deals that closed after the end of the reporting period through 31 March 2018, on a best-efforts basis.<\/p>\n Assets reported by non-US dollar filers were converted to dollars using period-end exchange rates. Total assets were taken on an “as-reported” basis and no adjustments are made to account for differing accounting standards.<\/p>\n |