China and Japan continue to lead the region in the number of banks on the list Banks’ balance sheet growth accelerated the most in Thailand and India, largely attributed to mergers and acquisitions The pandemic is expected to further accelerate bank consolidations Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group have remained the top five largest in Asia Pacific, according to The Asian Banker 500 (AB500) 2020, an evaluation of the 500 largest commercial banks and financial holding companies (banks) in the Asia Pacific region. This year, the financial information in the first half of financial year 2020 (1H FY2020) was collated and incorporated into the assessment of how banks performed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s evaluation covers 23 countries and territories, and the 500 largest banks combined had $66.5 trillion in total assets, $34.2 trillion in net loans and $46.5 trillion in customer deposits. These banks generated aggregate net profit of $213 billion in 1H FY2020, compared with $240 billion in 1H FY2019. It’s the first time that banks in Kazakhstan have been included in the evaluation. The five banks from Kazakhstan on the list had total assets ranging from $3.75 billion to $24 billion. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group overtook Commonwealth Bank of Australia as the largest bank in Australia. These two banks are very close in terms of total assets, same as Shinhan Financial Group (Shinhan) and KB Financial Group (KB) in South Korea and Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) and Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) in Vietnam. In this year’s ranking, Shinhan overtook KB to become the largest in South Korea and Agribank ranks in first position in Vietnam in terms of total assets. Bangkok Bank placed fourth in Thailand in last year’s evaluation, which was based on the data in FY2018, and now becomes the largest bank in the country, as the bank completed the acquisition of an 89.12% stake in Indonesia’s Bank Permata in May 2020. Siam Commercial Bank, the largest bank in Thailand in 2018, fell to fourth position, which can be attributed to the divestment of SCB Life Assurance and decline in bank lending. Chinese and Japanese banks continue to dominate the list Figure 1: Aggregate total assets, net loans, customers deposits and net profits (1H FY2020) Keywords: asset quality Bank Profitability Institutions: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China China Construction Bank Agricultural Bank of China Bank of China Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Commonwealth Bank of Australia Shinhan Financial Group KB Financial Group Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development BIDV Bank Permata Siam Commercial Bank SCB Life Assurance Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Japan Post Bank Postal Savings Bank of China Bank of Communications China Minsheng Banking Corporation China CITIC Bank Bangkok Bank TMB Bank Thanachart Bank Bank o Region: Asia Pacific
