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Brazil's five largest banks maintained their positions as the region's biggest, but one Mexican banking giant gained ground as a stronger Mexican peso helped to bolster its assets in U.S. dollars, the latest regional bank rankings from S&P Global Market Intelligence shows.
Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, Banco do Brasil SA, Banco Bradesco SA, Caixa Econômica Federal and Banco Santander (Brasil) SA all retained their spots in the top five with combined assets of US$1.629 trillion as of end-2019, up by just 1.04% from last year. A significant depreciation of the Brazilian real stripped away about US$62.33 billion worth of their aggregate total assets in the ranking.
Holding on to the sixth spot is Mexico's Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer SA de CV with assets of US$125.28 billion. While still some distance from No. 5 ranked Santander Brasil, BBVA Bancomer closed the gap substantially, thanks in part to a 4.18% gain of the Mexican peso against the dollar which added about US$5 billion to its total assets in the ranking. The Mexican peso also strengthened by about 8% against Brazil's real in 2019.
The difference between BBVA Bancomer and the No. 5 placeholder is now just US$64.35 billion, down from a US$71.59 billion margin a year earlier and a US$114.86 billion difference in 2017's ranking.
(To see the full impact of currency conversions on the 50 largest banks in Latin America and the Caribbean, download the Excel file linked in the below chart)
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In 2019, GDP growth in the region slowed to 0.1% from 1.1% in 2018. It is now expected to contract 5.2% in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic drags down markets, according to the most recent estimates from the IMF.
But as Latin America GDP growth slows, currency movements across economies vary. In 2019, the Argentine peso lost 37.11% of its value against the U.S. dollar causing two Argentine lenders to fall out of the top 50 in this year’s ranking. Two other Argentine banks managed to stay in but saw the biggest ranking drops. Grupo Financiero Galicia SA fell 10 spots to No. 47 this year, while Banco de la Nación Argentina fell to No. 24 from No. 21.
Among other notable changes in the ranking, Colombia's Banco GNB Sudameris SA jumped seven spots to No. 40 with assets of US$13.35 billion. Its pending purchase of Paraguay-based BBVA Paraguay SA added close to US$2 billion in assets for the Colombian lender.
Meanwhile, Banco de Credito e Inversiones SA's pending purchase of U.S.-based Executive Banking Corp. helped retain its position in the ranking at No. 12; had it not been for the M&A adjustment, the bank would have slipped to No. 13.
All told, Brazil is still home to majority of the biggest banks in the region with 11 institutions. It is followed by Mexico, Chile and Colombia with eight, seven, and six, respectively.
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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 banks filing in native currencies have been converted to U.S. 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 April 17, 2019, most company assets were as of Dec. 31, 2018, and were adjusted for pending and completed M&A as of March 31, 2019.