World's Safest Banks

The recent release of 2009's ranking of safest banks from around the world is more interesting than ever before, mainly due to the composition of the rankings while undergoing the unprecedented global financial crisis.

The rankings are a combination of a bank's long term credit ratings and its total asset size. This ranking has been published each year for the past 18 years and is a recognised and trusted standard of credit worthiness of the banks from around the globe.

Some interesting facts to note are:

All 5 top Canadian banks appear in the ranking.

UK based, Lloyds Banking Group is no more amongst the ranking of safest banks in the world, rather it is not there even in the Top 50 any longer. Last year in 2008, pre HBOS merger, it was ranked as the 6th safest worldwide.

ASB Bank from New Zealand is considered more safer than HSBC, post crisis! As well as all Canadian banks except CIBC & BMO.

None of the Indian banks appear, mainly because the ceiling of the country ranking of India, at BBB- (S&P), inhibits any of them to be a part of the safest banks in the world despite India's banking system being ranked as the most robust throughtout the crisis.

U.A.E. has one bank as the 50th ranked safest bank in the world, being NBAD from Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi is the richest city in the world today due to its conservative and prudent approach of saving money over the last several decades being the 5th largest oil producer in the world.

National Bank of Kuwait also made it at a higher than UAE ranking of 38th.

Only 4 US banks made it to the list with the highest being a 32nd ranking.

Almost all top French banks made it to the list, totalling 6.

WORLD'S 50 SAFEST BANKS 2009
Global Finance Magazine
New York, Aug 25, 2009