Europe’s sovereign debt crisis and slowing growth are having a significant impact on bank ratings. Global instability is also in the spotlight. Companies are watching closely to see how these events are affecting their counterparties.
Canadian banks are the best performing in North America with seven banks in the top 50 compared to six from United States. Banks from Singapore are the strongest in Asia and from Chile in Latin America. Credit ratings and rankings of most European banks have suffered except for those at the very top of the list which have explicit guarantees from AAA rated governments.
With the Top 10 banks unchanged as of an April 2012 update to last year’s rankings, the Global Finance list shows that most of the top echelon of banks are truly worthy of the distinction of being named World’s Safest Bank.
Winners were selected through an evaluation of long-term credit ratings - from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch - and total assets of the 500 largest banks worldwide.
Here's the Top 20:
1. KfW (Germany)
2. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (BNG) (Netherlands)
3. Zürcher Kantonalbank (Switzerland)
4. Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank (Germany)
5. Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg - Förderbank (L-Bank) (Germany)
6. Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC) (France)
7. Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (Netherlands)
8. NRW.BANK (Germany)
9. Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat (Luxembourg)
10. Rabobank Group (Netherlands)
11. TD Bank Group (Canada)
12. Bank of Nova Scotia (Canada)
13. DBS Bank (Singapore)
14. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (Singapore)
15. United Overseas Bank (Singapore)
16. Caisse centrale Desjardins (Canada)
17. Royal Bank of Canada (Canada)
18. National Australia Bank (Australia)
19. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Australia)
20. Westpac Banking Corporation (Australia)
Hit the link below to access the complete Global Finance Top 50:
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