Largest Banks in the World

Below are the world’s ten largest banks, determined by the amount of assets and a description of each.

BNP Paribas (BNP) – This French bank comes in at No. 1 with $3.21 trillion in assets.  BNP is one of the largest global banking networks in the world with operations in 84 countries.  BNP has four domestic retail banking markets located in France, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg.  In April 2009, as a result of BNP’s 75% purchase of Fortis Bank, the Belgian bank is now the largest Eurozone deposit holder.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group – RBS Group ranks as the number two bank in terms of assets held. Currently, the British government is the largest owner of the bank.  As a result of severe losses and the conditions of a government backed bailout, RBS Group has halted dividend payments. RBS Group is the largest banking group in Scotland and operates a wide variety of banking brands including personal and business banking, private banking, insurance and corporate finance throughout its operations located in Europe, North America and Asia.  As of May 2010, RBS Group had $2.99 trillion in assets.

Barclays PLC (Barclay’s) – Barclays, with $2.54 trillion in assets, is a British financial services firm operating worldwide. It is a holding company listed on the London and New York Stock exchanges, is a component of the FTSE 100 Index and until 2008 was also listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Barclays operates through branches, offices and subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and overseas and provides retail banking, credit card, corporate and investment banking and wealth management services. Its two major business groups are: Global Retailing and Commercial Banking, and Investment Banking and Investment Management.