BizAims

Since the beginning of the global financial crisis a lot of financial institutions in the United States were forced to file for bankruptcy, others, however, managed to survive. But the crisis had a more devastating impact than it was previously though, striking everything, including banks and insurance companies from around the globe. Several years ago it was rather uncomplicated to state out the best banks. The best bank was the one that had the largest asset under management. Today, however, this assumption often means bad.

In its latest research, Economy Watch and the Economist concluded that it would be better to focus on quality assets, cash flows, as well as management instead of focusing on the completely wrong idea that all assets are created equally, and their value will not fall in value in mass. Their unique research provided a rather interesting list from which it would be possible to identify top 10 banks around the world.

JP Morgan Chase & Co

This is the leading global financial service company based in New York City that operates in more than 50 nations. Millions of customers in the United States are served under the JPMorgan and Chase brands. The company also serves the most popular corporate and government customers. JP Morgan Chase & Co is also the oldest, biggest and popular financial institutions in the world, leading in the field of investment banking; financial services, small business and commercial banking, asset management, as well as the processing of financial transactions and private equity. It the first quarter of 2009 the company reported a net income of $2.1 billion, while in the same period last year it registered a net income of $2.4 billion.

Credit Suisse

This financial institution has a history of more than 150 years. Its roots go back to July 5, 1856, when the famous Swiss politician and business leader Alfred Escher founded "Schweizerische Kreditanstalt". Initially the goal of the bank was to provide financial support to the expansion of a railroad network and future industrialization in the country. The company proved to be very successful. From a simple bank in Switzerland, the institution developed into an integrated universal bank that activates in different countries worldwide. Credit Suisse offers advisory service, innovative products as well as comprehensive solutions to large number of companies, high-net-worth private clients and retail clients around the world. The company's headquarters can be found in Zurich, Switzerland. Credit Suisse employs 46,000 workers that activate in 100 different countries. It the first quarter on 2009 the company reported a net income of 2 billion Swiss Francs. 

Goldman Sachs Group Inc

This is the leading company in the filed of global financial service. It offers such services as investment banking, securities and investment management. Goldman Sachs Group Inc has a rich client base. Its list of clients includes corporations, financial institutions, high-net-worth natural persons as well as governments. The roots of the company go back to 1869 when Marcus Goldman founded the firm. Later, when his son-in-law Samuel Sachs joined the company, the firm got a new name - Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs Group Inc has its headquarters in New York and a number of offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong, as well as other large financial centers worldwide. 

Blackstone Group

The company was founded in 1985 by Stephen A Schwarzman and Peter G Peterson. The latter retired last year. They put the roots of the company with a shared secretary and initial balance sheet of $400,000. At present the company provides alternative asset management along with other services such as financial advisory on the NY Stock Exchange. From its foundation onwards the company managed to make several notable investments, among them: Hilton Hotels Corporation, Equity Office Properties, Allied Waste, AlliedBarton, United Biscuits, Freescale Semiconductor, Nielsen Company, Biomet, Michaels Stores and Travelport. While in the fourth quarter of 2008 the firm registered a loss of $827 million in economic net income, in the first quarter of 2009 the results were somewhat better, the company having a loss of $93 million.

Banco Santander

The roots of Banco Santander date back to May 15, 1857, the day when Queen Isabel II (of Spain) agreed to sign the royal decree that approved the incorporation of the founding of bank. From the very beginning the bank was opened to clients coming from outside the country. It was mainly linked to trade that took place between the port of Santander, located in the north of Spain, and Latin America. In 2007, the bank celebrated its 150 years of activity on the market, holding the 12h place among the major banks by market cap. It also ranks seventh in terms of profit and the bank that has the biggest retail network of 10,852 divisions in western world. The bank registered 2.1 billion euros of net attributable profit in Q1 of 2009, which is 5 percent lower compared to the same period last year, but 8 percent higher than the Q4 of 2008.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

This is the largest bank in the world. Together with Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Construction Bank it forms the Big Four, biggest state-owned commercial banks in the country. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is considered to be the largest in the world by market value. It is also one of the top 10 largest banks in terms of assets. On January 1, 1984, the bank was set up as a limited company. In 2006 the bank registered assets of about $893 billion, having more than 18,000 branches, with 106 being overseas.

Standard Chartered Bank

The bank was founded in London and at the moment it has more than 1,700 branches and outlets in over 70 countries worldwide. Standard Chartered Bank currently employs about 73,000 people. Although the bank is headquartered in London, it has several clients in the United States but the biggest part of its profits arrives from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The bank's largest shareholder is Temasek Holdings of Singapore. The name of the bank comes from the initial two banks that merged and created Standard Chartered in 1969. Those two banks were Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, and The Standard Bank of British South Africa. Scotsman James Wilson was the one to establish The Chartered Bank after the grant of a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria in 1853. John Paterson was another Scotsman who set up The Standard Bank in the Cape Province of South Africa back in 1862.

Rabobank

Initially the bank played a role in agriculture. It was the result of the foundation of two cooperative banks by the rural folk, who had little access to the capital market and thus came up with the idea of helping one another. The two banks founded in 1898 were the Cooperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Bank based in Utrecht and the Cooperatieve Centrale Boerenleenbank based in Eindhoven. Both served their rural communities separately until 1972 when they decided to merge. The Rabobank managed to open several branches in Europe, North America, Asia and South America. 

The Bank of New York Mellon

The New York-based Bank of New York Mellon was created as a result of merger that took place in 2007. The merging companies were Mellon Financial Corporation, The Bank of New York Company, Inc and The Bank of New York Mellon. Currently the bank is heading the list of the largest companies in terms of asset management and securities service. It can boast $19.5 trillion in assets under custody or administration along with $881 billion assets under management. The main goal of the company is to help other firms create assets, improve their performance, develop operating efficiency and lower the risk via a variety of solutions related to asset management and securities service. For natural persons the company provides complex financial solutions such as investment and wealth management.

BNP Paribas