HSBC, which has a subsidiary in the Cayman Islands, has jumped from third to first place in the latest annual Banker magazine survey of the world’s top one thousand banks (Top 1000).
HSBC is the first non-US company in nine years to lead the survey and tops the rankings by virtue of its Tier 1 capital and profit before tax, which last year reached a new high.
The survey found that US banks now account for just 14 per cent of aggregate Top 1000 pre-tax profits, down from 24 percent last year, while Asian banks rose to 19 percent from 12 percent. European bank profits remained flat at 41 per cent of the total.
In April, HSBC also topped the Forbes 2000 list of world’s largest companies - the first non-US company to do so, having delivered 26 percent growth in annual revenue and 31 percent in net income over the past five years.