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Chinese and Japanese banks remain the biggest lenders in Asia-Pacific amid a regional economic slowdown, the latest ranking from S&P Global Market Intelligence shows.
The top four spots are all Chinese banks, the same as in the previous year. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China Construction Bank Corp., Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. and Bank of China Ltd. reported aggregate assets of US$14.821 trillion as of end-2019, up 7.52% from a year ago.
They are followed by Japan's four largest banks, keeping them at almost the same ranks for the fifth consecutive year.
As the pandemic continues to rage, the Asia-Pacific economies are expected to contract 0.2% in 2020, compared with a 4.5% growth in 2019, according to the latest estimate by the IMF. It will still be better than an estimated contraction of 3.0% for the global economy for 2020.
In China, GDP growth slowed to 6.1% in 2019 from 6.7% a year ago, which helped push the yuan down 1.22% against the U.S. dollar last year. The four largest banks would have reported close to US$200 billion more in assets based on the 2018 exchange rate.
(To see the full impact of currency conversions on the 50 largest banks in the Asia-Pacific, download the Excel file linked in the below chart.)
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Even with a weakened yuan, a handful of Chinese banks on the list climb up the ranking. China-based Ping An Bank Co. Ltd. leapfrogs the most on the list, overtaking three companies to finish at No. 23.
China Everbright Bank Co. Ltd. also moves two spots up to No. 19. Meanwhile, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. and Westpac Banking Corp. slide.
Entering the top-50 list are Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. and Huishang Bank Corp. Ltd., at 41st and 50th, respectively.
Standard Chartered Bank grew its assets by 7.24% from a year earlier, while Huishang Bank was buoyed by its pending acquisition of some branches and assets from Baoshang Bank Co. Ltd.
China is home to 21 of the 50 biggest banks in the region, followed by eight from Japan and six from South Korea.
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In this ranking, company 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 March 31 on a best-efforts basis. Assets reported by non-U.S. dollar filers were converted to dollars using period-end exchange rates.
The majority of banks were ranked by total assets as of Dec. 31, 2019. In the previous ranking published in April 24, 2019, most company assets were as of Dec. 31, 2018, and were adjusted for pending and completed M&A as of March 31, 2019. No adjustments were made for differences between GAAP and IFRS filings.