Four of Canada's banks ranked are among the global top 10 strongest financial institutions, according to Bloomberg Markets magazineKevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail/Bloomberg
Canadian banks dominate a new ranking of the world's strongest financial institutions, with four of the country's lenders ranked in the top 10.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce landed third on Bloomberg Markets magazine's global survey, followed in sequence by Toronto-Dominion Bank, National Bank of Canada and Royal Bank of Canada. Bank of Nova Scotia ranked 18th and Bank of Montreal placed 22nd.
"Canadian banks invoke their strong capital levels, the country's conservative lending culture and strict regulatory oversight under a single supervisor as reasons for their showing," Bloomberg said.
The magazine looked at five key criteria, including comparing Tier 1 capital with risk-weighted assets, and nonperforming assets with total assets. All banks had to be profitable within the last year and have assets in excess of $100-billion. Any bank that had failed government stress tests weren't eligible for consideration.
Only three U.S. banks ranked in the top 20: JPMorgan Chase, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and BB&T Corp.
At the top of the heap was Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., followed by BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd.
Canadian banks have moved to capitalize on the troubles of weaker banks since the financial crisis. The six largest have spent $37.8-billion since 2008 on about 100 acquisitions at home and abroad, Bloomberg said.