ING and Rabobank are the only Dutch banks in the top 20 in Europe. In a list dominated by British and French banks, ING is ranked 12th and Rabobank is ranked 18th.

2016 was not an easy year for European banks. The European Central Bank’s policy of continuously ensuring low interest rates made it difficult for banks to excel. The low exchange rates of the euro and the British pound also caused the relative weakness of European banks compared to American and Asian banks.

In a survey of the world’s largest banks – in terms of total assets – credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s found that Asian banks dominate the list. Four Chinese banks and one Japanese bank take over the role. Britain’s HSBC is the first European bank to rank at No. 7. Logically, we also find HSBC at the top of the list of Europe’s largest banks.

British and French banks dominate the European banking world in terms of total assets. The Top 10 contains four banks from the UK and four from France. This leaves little room for other countries. With a total of two banks – ING and Rabobank – the Netherlands is third on the list when looking at the number of banks per country in the Top 20. Our country shares this position with Switzerland (a recognized banking country), Spain and Italy (a country with a larger population). As far as the national situation is concerned, we recently compiled a list of the largest banks in the Netherlands.

Some German banks

What is striking about the ranking of the largest banks in Europe is that only one German bank appears in it. After all, Germany is the largest economy in Europe and it would be natural to expect more Germans to be included in the ranking. That is not the case. Only Deutsche Bank made it into the Top 20, in 4th place to be exact. It must be said that two German banks are in the first two positions outside the top twenty.

Different measurement methods

When compiling rankings, it seems that the bank’s measurement point can make a big difference. Banken.nl recently conducted a study of the world’s twenty largest private banks. If we compare the ranking based on assets under management with the ranking based on total assets, the situation suddenly becomes very different. While UBS Switzerland is ranked 12th in terms of assets (in Europe), it is proudly at the top of the ranking in terms of assets under management (worldwide). Of the twenty largest private banks in the world, twelve are from Europe, and Switzerland tops the list with the six largest private banks in the world. It is surprising to suddenly see the name ABN AMRO there and ING and Rabobank not appear at all.