Big Four (banking)

Term for large banks; referred varies by country From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Big Four (or Big 4) is the colloquial name given to the four main banks in several countries where the banking industry is dominated by just four institutions and where the phrase has thus gained relevance.[1] Some countries include more or fewer institutions in such rankings, leading to other names such as Big Three, Big Five, or Big Six.

International use

Internationally, the term "Big Four Banks" has traditionally referred to the following central banks:[2]

More information Official name, Short-form name ...
Official name Short-form name Year of inception
Bank of England BOE 1694
Federal Reserve (United States) The Fed 1913
Bank of Japan BOJ 1882
European Central Bank ECB 1998
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Australia

In Australia, the "big four banks" refers to the four largest banks that have historically dominated Australia's banking industry in terms of market share, revenue, and total assets.[3][4] The "big four banks" of Australia are:[5]

More information Official name, Short-form name ...
Official name Short-form name Year of inception
ANZ Bank 1835
Commonwealth Bank CommBank 1911
National Australia Bank NAB 1858
Westpac 1817
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A longstanding policy of the federal government in Australia has been to maintain this status quo, called the four pillars policy. The policy has been maintained through the Global Recession of 2008–09, as Westpac acquired St George Bank and the Commonwealth Bank acquired Bankwest, reinforcing the special status of the "big four".

Austria

The "Big Four" banks of Austria are:[6]

*separate legal entities operating under a common brand

Belgium

The big four banks of Belgium[7] are a result of national and international mergers in the early 90s.

Brazil

According to S&P Global in 2024, the "Big Five" banks In Brazil[8] (which are also the 5 largest banks in Latin America):

More information Rank, Bank ...
Rank Bank Total assets (USD B) Ownership Year of incorporation
1 Itaú Unibanco 555.72 Private 2008 (merger of Itaú and Unibanco; Itaú founded in 1945)
2 Banco do Brasil 447.72 State-owned 1808
3 Banco Bradesco 394.76 Private 1943
4 Caixa Econômica Federal 377.29 State-owned 1861
5 Santander Brasil 237.66 Private (Foreign-owned by Banco Santander) 1982
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Cambodia

According to the National Bank of Cambodia, the top three largest banks in Cambodia dominates 39.1% (The largest bank in term of total asset is Canadia Bank at 14.2%, followed by ACLEDA Bank at 12.7%, in third place Advanced Bank of Asia (ABA) at 12.2%) of the overall banking assets as of 2020. These banks are:[9]

Canada

There are six banks dominating the Canadian banking sector:

More information Official name, Short-form name ...
Official name Short-form name Year of inception
Royal Bank of Canada RBC 1864
Toronto-Dominion Bank TD 1955
Scotiabank BNS 1832
Bank of Montreal BMO 1817
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CIBC 1961
National Bank of Canada 1928
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China

Summarize
Perspective

In the People's Republic of China, the "Big Four" banks (四大银行) are:[10]

More information Official name, Short-form name ...
Official name Short-form name Chinese name Year of inception
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ICBC 中国工商银行 1984
Bank of China BOC 中国银行 1912
China Construction Bank CCB 中国建设银行 1954
Agricultural Bank of China ABC / AgBank 中国农业银行 1951
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In addition to the Big Four banks in China, there are numerous banks in China which would have larger Tier 1 capital than the Big Four banks of other developed countries, such as:

More information Official name, Short-form name ...
Official name Short-form name Chinese name Year of inception
Bank of Communications BOCOM / BankComm 交通银行 1908
China Merchants Bank CMB 招商银行 1987
Postal Savings Bank of China PSBC 中国邮政储蓄银行 2007
Industrial Bank (China) 兴业银行 1988
China CITIC Bank 中信银行 1987
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank SPDB 上海浦东发展银行 1992
China Minsheng Bank 中国民生银行 1996
Ping An Bank 平安银行 1987
Hua Xia Bank 华夏银行 1992
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Historically, during the 1920s, the term "Big Four" applied to the Four Northern Banks of the Republic of China (i.e., the four most capitalized commercial banks in Northern China).[11] These were the Yien Yieh Commercial Bank, the Kincheng Banking Corporation, the Continental Bank and The China & South Sea Bank. They were contrasted with the Three Southern Banks of Southern China.

By 1949, the "Big Four" banks were the Bank of China, the Bank of Communications, the Central Bank of China, and the Farmers Bank of China. All four were state-owned. Together with the Central Trust of China, Postal Savings and Remittance Bureau of China, and Central Cooperative Treasury of China, these banks were called the "four banks, two bureaus, one treasury" (四行两局一库).[12]

Colombia

In Colombia, the ten biggest banking service networks are:[needs update][13][14]

More information Name, Description ...
NameDescriptionYearNet assets
(COP billions)
Banco de BogotáLargest private bank20173,600
BancolombiaPrivate bank20172,600
Banco DaviviendaPrivate bank20171,204
Banco de Occidente CredencialPrivate bank2017933
BBVA ColombiaPrivate bank2017346
Banco Agrario de Colombia [es]State-owned bank2017339
Banco ColpatriaPrivate bank2017254
Banco Caja Social [es]Private bank2017238
Citibank ColombiaPrivate bank2017172
Banco Popular [es]Private bank2017156
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Czech Republic

In Czech Republic, the "big three" are:[15]

Estonia

Finland

France

According to S&P Global in 2024,[16] the 'Big Six' major banking groups in France are:

More information Bank, Assets (EUR billion) ...
Bank Assets (EUR billion) Year of incorporation
BNP Paribas 2,594.14 2000
Crédit Agricole 2,476.43 1894
Société Générale 1,553.81 1864
BPCE Group 1,544.14 2009
Crédit Mutuel 1,142.19 1882
La Banque postale 738.15 2006
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Germany

Greece

Hong Kong

More information Bank, Chinese name ...
Bank Chinese name Year of incorporation
HSBC (Hong Kong)香港上海滙豐銀行1865
Bank of China (Hong Kong)中國銀行(香港)2001
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong)渣打銀行(香港)1859
Hang Seng Bank恒生銀行1933
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia)中國工商銀行(亞洲)1984
Bank of East Asia東亞銀行1918
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HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), and Bank of China (Hong Kong) are the three note-issuing banks; Hang Seng and HSBC Hong Kong are both under the common ownership of London-based HSBC Holdings plc. According to Global Retail Banking Cross-sell conducted by RFi group in 2015, HSBC, Bank of China (Hong Kong), and Hang Seng Bank were the top 3 most popular banks in Hong Kong.[17]

India

In India the largest banks, based on total market capitalization, are:[18]

Big Four private banks in India
Big Four public sector banks in India

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the term "big four" is not explicitly used. As of 2018, the four largest banks by total assets are:[19]

More information Official name, Short-form name ...
Official name Short-form name Year of inception
Bank Rakyat Indonesia BRI 1895
Bank Mandiri 1998
Bank Central Asia BCA 1957
Bank Negara Indonesia BNI 1946
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BRI, Bank Mandiri, and BNI are all controlled by the central government as state-owned enterprises.

Ireland

In Ireland, the term "big four" applies to the four largest banks by market capitalisation.[20][21]

Israel

In Israel, the term "big five"[23] is used instead of "big four".

More information Bank, Hebrew name ...
Bank Hebrew name Year of incorporation
Bank Leumiבנק לאומי1921
Bank Hapoalimבנק הפועלים1921
Israel Discount Bankבנק דיסקונט לישראל1935
Bank Mizrahi-Tefahotבנק מזרחי טפחות1992[24]
First International Bank of Israelהבנק הבינלאומי1972
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Italy

According to S&P Global in 2024,[25] the 'Big Six' major banking groups in Italy are:

More information Bank, Assets (EUR billion) ...
Bank Assets (EUR billion) Year of incorporation
Intesa Sanpaolo 965.13 2007[26]
UniCredit 789.24 1998
Banco BPM 202.13 2017[27]
BPER Banca 142.13 1867
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena 122.61 1472
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Japan

In Japan, the term "big three"[28][29] is used instead of "big four". The related term city bank is also sometimes used for these banks. The "big three" are:

More information Financial group, Bank ...
Financial group Bank Japanese name Year of incorporation
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial GroupMUFG Bank三菱UFJ銀行2005
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial GroupSumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)三井住友銀行2002
Mizuho Financial GroupMizuho Bankみずほ銀行2000
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These banks are all listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (where they are constituents of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indices) and the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American depositary receipts; MUFG and SMBC Group are both additionally listed in the Nagoya Stock Exchange and serve as the financial arms of their respective namesake keiretsu (Mitsubishi for MUFG, Sumitomo and Mitsui for SMBC).

Kenya

Latvia

According to a consumer survey conducted in 2019,[30] the "big four" retail banks in Latvia are:

Lebanon

In Lebanon, where the banks have retained their banking secrecy laws since 1956, which is prevalent in the whole MENA region, and while adopting international measures to fight money laundering, the "big four" banks consist of:[31]

  • Bank Audi (founded in 1830 and ranked on the Forbes Magazine Global 2000 list of largest public companies in the world in 2016)
  • Byblos Bank (founded in 1950 as "Société Commerciale et Agricole Byblos Bassil Frères & Co.")
  • BLOM Bank: Banque du Liban et d'Outre-Mer S.A.L (founded in 1951)
  • Fransabank (founded in 1921 as Société Centrale de Banque)

Furthermore, as of September 2016, there are more than 51 banks in Lebanon, one of the smallest countries in the Middle East, a fact that has always made investors from the Arab countries, especially the GCC petrodollar in addition to the European and world investors, to place their funds in the Lebanese banks.

Luxembourg

The "big four" full-service banks in Luxembourg are:[32]

There are bigger banks in Luxembourg, but these only deliver a limited number of services such as investment banking, private banking, or corporate banking only. Luxembourg is a financial center.

Macau

In Macau, the four major banks are:[33]

Malaysia

According to Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM), the 5 largest Malaysian banks by assets size are:[34]

More information Bank name, Year of inception ...
Bank name Year of inception
Maybank 1960
CIMB 2006
Public Bank 1966
RHB Bank 1997
Hong Leong Bank 1965
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Mexico

According to S&P Global in 2024, the "Big Four" banks in Mexico[35] (which are within the 10 largest banks in Latin America):

More information Bank, Total assets (USD B) ...
Bank Total assets (USD B) Ownership Year of incorporation
BBVA México 197.29 Private (Foreign-owned) by BBVA 1932
Banorte 134.56 Private (Mexican-owned) 1899
Santander México 108.40 Private (Foreign-owned) by Banco Santander 1932 (as Banco Mexicano) / 1997 (became part of Santander)
Banamex 93.92 Private (Foreign-owned) by Citibank 1884
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Myanmar

According to Asia Times, the four largest banks in Myanmar are:[36]

Netherlands

The "big four" banks in the Netherlands by market concentration are:[37]

More information Official name, Year of inception ...
Official name Year of inception
ING Group 1991
Rabobank 1898
ABN AMRO 1991
de Volksbank 1817
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The market leader for the Netherlands, ING Group, is one of the world's largest multinational banking and financial service corporations, with products and services reaching over 41 countries worldwide.[38]

New Zealand

Summarize
Perspective

New Zealand is Australia's closest neighbour, with very close cultural and economic ties. The big four Australian banks (often referred to collectively as the "big banks"[39][40][41] or the "big Aussie banks") also dominate the banking sector in New Zealand, through subsidiaries:

Together they hold over 90% of gross loans and advances in New Zealand[42] as well as close to 90% of all mortgages.[43]

These four NZ subsidiaries are massively profitable and sometimes even outperform the Australian parent companies.[44] The extent to which they dominate the banking sector can be seen in profits: In the 2012/2013 financial year, the largest of the Big Banks, ANZ New Zealand, made a profit of NZ$1.37 billion. The smallest, BNZ, made a profit of NZ$695 million.[39] State-owned Kiwibank, community trust-owned TSB Bank, SBS Bank (formerly Southland Building Society) and Heartland Bank, the next four largest banks by profit, made NZ$97 million,[45] NZ$73.5 million,[46] NZ$14 million[47] and NZ$7 million (albeit with an underlying result of about NZ$30 million) respectively.[48] Thus, the profit of New Zealand's next four largest banks (after the Big Four) is equal to less than 30% of the smallest of the Big Four, BNZ.

Nigeria

The term "Big Five" is used instead of four, with five banks dominating the Nigerian banking world. In 2011, these top five banks had a combined balance sheet, including contingents, of 12.9 trillion naira ($821 billion), 33 percent higher than the prior year.[49]

North Macedonia

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the three largest banks in North Macedonia dominate 60% of the banking market share.[50]

Pakistan

The "top six" banks of Pakistan are:[51]

Panama

Peru

In Peru the "big four" are:[52]

Philippines

The term "Big Four" is not explicitly used in the Philippines. The following are the four largest banks in the country in terms of total assets as of March 2020:[53]

Romania

The Romanian banking system has almost 40 banks, most detained by local financial vehicles and some subsidiaries of foreign banks. The big four are as follows.

Other major banks are Raiffeisen Bank, Unicredit Bank, and the ING Bank of Holland subsidiary.

Russia

The largest banks by operations and assets in Russia:

More information Bank, Russian name ...
Bank Russian name Year of incorporation
SberbankСбербанк1841
VTB BankБанк ВТБ1990
Alfa-BankАльфа-Банк1990
Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank)Россельхозбанк2000
GazprombankГазпромбанк1990
Otkritie FC BankБанк «ФК Открытие»1992
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Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, the "Big Five" are:[54]

More information Official name, Arabic name ...
Official name Arabic name Year of inception
Saudi National Bank البنك الوطني السعودي 1953
Al Rajhi Bank مصرف الراجحي 1957
Riyad Bank بنك الرياض 1957
Saudi Awwal Bank البنك السعودي الأول 1978
Banque Saudi Fransi بنك سعودي فرنسي 1977
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Singapore

According to S&P Global in 2024, the "Big Three" banks in Singapore are:[55]

More information Bank, Assets (USD billion) ...
Bank Assets (USD billion) Subsidiary bank Year of incorporation
DBS Bank 461.0 POSB Bank 1968 (DBS), 1877 (POSB)
OCBC Bank 435.1 Bank of Singapore 1932
United Overseas Bank 396.4 1935
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South Africa

In South Africa, the "big four" in order of value of assets are:[56]

South Korea

In South Korea, the "Big Six" are:[57]

More information Financial group, Bank ...
Financial group Bank Korean name Year of inception
KB Financial GroupKookmin Bank (KB)국민은행1963
Shinhan Financial GroupShinhan Bank신한은행1982
Hana Financial GroupHana Bank하나은행1967
Woori Financial GroupWoori Bank우리은행2002
Industrial Bank of Korea(IBK)기업은행1961
Nonghyup Bank(NH Bank)NH농협은행2012
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Spain

As of September 2021, the "big four" in Spain are:[58]

More information Official name, Short-form name ...
Official name Short-form name Year of inception
Banco Santander Santander 1857
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria BBVA 1857
Caixabank Caixabank 2011
Banco Sabadell Sabadell 1881
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Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the leading banks are, as of 2020[59]

State-owned banks
Privately owned banks
Leading foreign-owned banks

Sweden

In Sweden the "big four" are:[60][61]

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the Big Four are as follows:

More information Official name, Year of inception ...
Official name Year of inception
UBS 1998
Raiffeisen Bank 1899
Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB) 1870
PostFinance 1906
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Taiwan

In Taiwan, the seven "systemic banks" are:[62][63]

More information Bank, Chinese name ...
Bank Chinese name Year of incorporation
CTBC Bank中國信託商業銀行1966
Bank of Taiwan臺灣銀行1946
Mega International Commercial Bank兆豐國際商業銀行1992
Taipei Fubon Bank台北富邦銀行1963
Taiwan Cooperative Bank臺灣合作金庫銀行1923
First Commercial Bank第一商業銀行1899
Cathay United Bank國泰世華商業銀行1975
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Thailand

The "Big Six" banks in Thailand are as follows:

More information Bank, Acronym ...
Bank Acronym Thai name Year of incorporation
Siam Commercial BankSCBธนาคารไทยพาณิชย์1906
KasikornbankKBankธนาคารกสิกรไทย1945
Krungthai BankKTBธนาคารกรุงไทย1966
Bangkok BankBBLธนาคารกรุงเทพ1944
TMBThanachart BankTTBธนาคารทหารไทยธนชาต1957[64]
Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri)BAYธนาคารกรุงศรีอยุธยา1945
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Before the Siamese Revolution, the banking system was controlled by foreign powers, particularly the "big four" European banks.[65]:160–169

Turkey

In 2021, the top three largest state-owned banks held over 37.1% of the market share, while Turkey's top four largest foreign-owned banks dominate 22.9% of the overall market share.[66]

State-owned banks

Privately-owned banks

United Arab Emirates

Based on the total assets of listed banks at the end of 2017,[67][68] big five banks in United Arab Emirates are:

United Kingdom

Summarize
Perspective

England and Wales

In relation to England and Wales, the phrase "big six" is currently used to refer to the six largest High Street retail banking groups:

More information Official name, Year of inception ...
Official name Year of inception
HSBC UK 1865
Barclays 1690
Lloyds Bank 1765
NatWest Group 1968
Nationwide Building Society 1846
Santander UK 2010
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Scotland

In relation to Scotland, the phrase "big four" is currently used to refer to the four largest banking groups:

Northern Ireland

In relation to Northern Ireland, the phrase "big four" is currently[when?] used to refer to the four largest banking groups:

Historical use

Until 1970, the phrase "big five" (as opposed to "little six")[70] was used to refer to the five largest UK clearing banks (institutions which clear bankers' cheques), which in England and Wales were:

After the merger of Westminster Bank, National Provincial Bank and District Bank to form National Westminster Bank (now part of NatWest Group) in 1970,[71] the term "big four" came into use instead.

United States

In the United States, the "big four" banks hold about 45% of all U.S. customer deposits (as of 2018), and each have assets of roughly $1.7 trillion U.S. dollars. As of 2023, they have combined assets of more than $9.2 trillion.[72] The banks are, in order of size:[73][74]

More information Name, Headquartered in ...
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Regardless of the jurisdiction of charter, all these banks are legally subsidiaries of Delaware-chartered bank holding companies.

From a retail banking perspective, U.S. Bank and PNC Bank both have significantly more branches than Citibank, the retail banking arm of Citigroup.[75] However, Citigroup still has significantly more assets than U.S. Bancorp and PNC Financial Services.[76]

Vietnam

In Vietnam, the four major banking groups are:[77]

As of the start of 2024, the big four held VNĐ13.5 quadrillion worth of public deposits (bank liabilities), equivalent to 50% of all bank deposits nationwide. Meanwhile, during the annual year 2023, these banks represented 42% of the outstanding loans (bank credit) that were issued over this period nationwide, a total of VNĐ685 trillion.[78]

See also

References

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