Top 50 Safest Banks in the World

Global Finance magazine (www.gfmag.com) has published its annual rankings of the "World's Safest Bank 2010" for the 19th time. KfW is rated as the safest bank in the world, with 2nd place went to France's Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC) and 3rd place awarded to Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (BNG) of the Netherlands.

A total of four leading banks of Australia made it to the world's top 20 list: National Australia Bank, Westpac Banking Corporation, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.

A number of Asian financial institutions successfully made it to the top 50 list. DBS Bank (Singapore) is rated the best in Asia and 23rd globally. However, no Indian banks feature on the list.

In the UK, HSBC Holdings is the highest rated bank, followed by Barclays Bank (34th globally) and Nationwide Building Society (46th globally).

The 50 Safest Banks in the World:
Rank, Bank, Country
1 KfW Germany
2 Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC) France
3 Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten The Netherlands
4 Zuercher Kantonalbank Switzerland
5 Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank Germany
6 Rabobank Group The Netherlands
7 Landeskreditbank Baden-Wuerttemberg – Foerderbank Germany
8 Nederlandse Waterschapsbank The Netherlands
9 NRW.Bank Germany
10 Royal Bank of Canada Canada
11 National Australia Bank Australia
12 Westpac Banking Corporation Australia
13 Commonwealth Bank of Australia Australia
14 Banco Santander Spain
15 Toronto-Dominion Bank Canada
16 Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Australia
17 ASB Bank The Netherlands
18 BNP Paribas France
19 HSBC Holdings United Kingdom
20 Credit Agricole France
21 Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) Spain
22 Scotiabank Canada
23 DBS Bank Singapore
24 Banco Espanol de Credito S.A. (Banesto) Spain
25 Caisse centrale Desjardins Canada
26 Credit Suisse Switzerland
27 Nordea Sweden
28 Caja de Ahorros y Pensiones de Barcelona Spain
29 Svenska Handelsbanken Sweden
30 BNY Mellon United States
31 Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Singapore
32 United Overseas Bank Singapore
33 Pohjola Bank Finland
34 Barclays Bank United Kingdom
35 Intesa Sanpaolo Italy
36 Bank of Montreal Canada
37 CIBC Canada
38 National Bank Of Kuwait Kuwait
39 Deutsche Bank Germany
40 JPMorgan Chase United States
41 Societe Generale France
42 Wells Fargo United States
43 Banque Federative du Credit Mutuel (BFCM) France
44 Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg Germany
45 Credit Industriel et Commercial (CIC) France
46 Nationwide Building Society United Kingdom
47 U.S. Bancorp United States
48 Shizuoka Bank Japan
49 Northern Trust United States
50 National Bank of Abu Dhabi UAE

Source: Global Finance (2010)

* Next: Top Investment Banks in the World

Author

Kelvin Wong Loke Yuen is a highly experienced education writer. He has obtained many certifications from the UK, USA, Australia and Canada, including an MBA and a Postgraduate Diploma from Heriot-Watt (UK's World-Class University) and a BCom degree from Adelaide (Australia’s Group of Eight University). Follow him on: LinkedIn