General

Canadian banks dominate list of world’s strongest banks

Canadian banks dominated a ranking of the world’s strongest banks issued by Bloomberg on Friday. Four of the large Canadian banks feature in the list’s top 10, claiming third to sixth places.

The best Canadian banks ranked were the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), National Bank of Canada and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal also made the list of the strongest banks in the world, placing 19th and 22nd respectively. The Singaporean Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. took the number one spot.

By way of comparison, only three American banks made the list’s top 20: JPMorgan Chase, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and BB&T Corp., none of them among the first 10.

From Bloomberg:

Banks from Citigroup Inc. in the U.S. to BNP Paribas SA in France are racing to shed assets and raise money ahead of new global capital rules that start taking effect in 2015. For Canadian lenders, these moves have created the opportunity to go on a shopping spree.

Canada’s six largest banks have spent $37.8 billion since 2008 on about 100 acquisitions at home and abroad, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its June issue.

(…)

Canadian banks invoke their strong capital levels, the country’s conservative lending culture and strict regulatory oversight under a single supervisor as reasons for their showing.

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
FILED UNDER: