Big Four (banking)

Internationally, the term "Big Four Banks" has traditionally referred to the following central banks:[2][3]

• The Bank of England
• The Bank of Japan
• The Federal Reserve
• The European Central Bank

In Australia, the "big four banks" refers to the four largest banks[4] by market share, who between them hold 80% of the home loan markets in the country. In 2012, their combined total asset is A$2.66 trillion, which is about 200% of Australian GDP in 2011. In order of total assets, these are:

• National Australia Bank (NAB)
• Commonwealth Bank (CommBank) (was owned by the Australian Government until 1996)[5]
• Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ)
• Westpac (WBC)

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".

Being New Zealand's closest neighbour, with very close ties culturally and economically, has helped Australia dominate the banking sector there. Often referred to collectively as the 'big banks'[6][7][8] or the 'big Aussie banks', the "Big Four" Australian banks also dominate the New Zealand banking sector in the form of:

• Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, or ANZ, also comprising the former business of The National Bank.
• ASB Bank, formerly Auckland Savings Bank, wholly owned by the Commonwealth Bank
• The Bank of New Zealand (BNZ), wholly owned by the National Australia Bank
• Westpac, formerly known as WestpacTrust after a merger with the Trust Bank.

Together they hold over 90% of gross loans and advances in New Zealand[9] as well as close to 90% of all mortgages.[10]

These four subsidiaries are massively profitable and in some cases even outperform the Australian parent companies.[11] 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.[6] 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,[12] NZ$73.5 million,[13] NZ$14 million[14] and NZ$7 million (albeit with an underlying result of about NZ$30 million) respectively.[15] In other words, 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.

The "Big Four" banks of Austria are:[16]

• Erste Bank / Sparkasse* (credit unions)
• UniCredit Bank Austria (formerly Bank Austria Creditanstalt)
• Raiffeisen Bankengruppe*
• Österreichische Postsparkasse

*separate legal entities operating under a common brand

The big four banks of Belgium[17] are a result of national and international mergers in the early 90s.

• KBC Bank, including its CBC Banque subsidiary in the French Community of Belgium and KBC Brussels brand in the Brussels-Capital Region
• Belfius, government owned bank
• BNP Paribas Fortis, subsidiary of BNP Paribas
• ING Bank, subsidiary of the ING Group

In Brazil, the "big four", according to Exame Magazine[18] in 2017:

There are five banks dominating the Canadian banking sector, hence the "Big Five"[19][20] is used instead of "Big Four".

• Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
• Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)
• Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
• Bank of Montreal (BMO)
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)

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).[21] 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 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" or "四行两局一库".[22]

In the People's Republic of China, the Big Five Banks ("五大银行") are:[23]

1. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
2. Bank of China
3. China Construction Bank
4. Agricultural Bank of China
5. Bank of Communications

All five are state-controlled banks with commercial banking operations. Since Bank of Communications was refounded in 1986, it was sometimes excluded, leaving the rest as "Big Four".[23]

In Colombia, the ten biggest banking service networks are:[24][25]

In Czech Republic, according to R. Pazderník,[26] the "big four" are:

• Česká spořitelna, subsidiary of Erste Group
• Československá obchodní banka, subsidiary of KBC Bank
• Komerční banka, subsidiary of Société Générale (formerly Státní banka československá, or State Bank of Czechoslovakia)
• Investiční a poštovní banka.

In France, according to The Banker,[27] the five major banking groups are:

• BNP Paribas
• Crédit Agricole
• Crédit Mutuel
• Groupe BPCE
• Société Générale

• Deutsche Bank
• DZ Bank
• KfW
• Commerzbank

In Hong Kong, some media refer to the followings as "big four":[28]

• Bank of China (Hong Kong)
• Hang Seng Bank
• HSBC
• Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong)

Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), HSBC and Bank of China (Hong Kong) are the three note-issuing banks. 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.[29]

In India, the big four largest banks based on total assets are:[30]

• State Bank of India
• ICICI Bank
• HDFC Bank
• Punjab National Bank

In Indonesia, the term "big four" is not explicitly used. As of 2018, the four largest banks by total assets are:[31]

• Bank Rakyat Indonesia
• Bank Mandiri
• Bank Central Asia
• Bank Negara Indonesia

In Ireland, the term "big four" applies to the four largest banks by market capitalisation.[32][33] These all operate in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and have a wider international presence; these banks also issue banknotes in Northern Ireland.[34]

• Bank of Ireland;
• Allied Irish Banks;[35] and
• Ulster Bank Ireland, a wholly owned subsidiary of NatWest Group.

Ever since National Irish Bank phased out its personal banking services, it has been suggested that either KBC Ireland or Permanent TSB could replace, in the medium-term, National Irish Bank in its "Big Four" ranking.

• Bank Hapoalim
• Bank Leumi
• Discount Bank
• Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot

In Japan, the term "big three"[36][37] is used instead of "big four". The "big three" are:

• Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
• SMBC Group
• Mizuho Financial Group

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:[38]

• Audi Saradar Bank (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, the 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.

The "big four" full-service banks in Luxembourg are:[39]

• Banque et Caisse d'Épargne de l'État (Spuerkeess), state owned bank
• Banque Internationale à Luxembourg,
• BGL BNP Paribas
• ING Luxembourg

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.

The "big four" in Mexico are:[40][41]

• BBVA Bancomer
• Banamex
• Banco Santander
• Banorte

The "big four" banks in the Netherlands by market concentration are:[42]

• ING Group
• Rabobank
• ABN AMRO
• de Volksbank, state owned banking arm of SNS Reaal

The market leader for the Netherlands, ING Group, is one of the largest multinational banking and financial service corporations in the world, with products and services reaching over 41 countries worldwide.[43]

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.[44]

• Zenith Bank
• First Bank of Nigeria
• Guaranty Trust Bank
• Access Bank
• United Bank for Africa (UBA)

The "top five" banks of Pakistan are:[45]

• Habib Bank
• MCB Bank Limited
• National Bank of Pakistan
• United Bank
• Allied Bank

In Peru the "big four" are:[46]

• Banco de Crédito del Perú
• BBVA Perú
• Scotiabank (subsidiary of the Canadian bank)
• Interbank

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:[47]

• Banco de Oro
• Metrobank
• Land Bank of the Philippines
• Bank of the Philippine Islands

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

• Banca Comercială Română, now part of the Erste Group
• Banca Transilvania, the biggest bank detained by private investors with domestic capital
• BRD – Groupe Société Générale, formerly known as Romanian Bank for Development
• CEC Bank, the state-owned bank, formerly known as Casa de Economii și Consemnațiuni

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

Four largest banks by operations and assets in Russia by December 2020:[48][49]

• Sberbank
• VTB Bank
• Gazprombank
• Alfa-Bank

In Singapore, the "big three" are:[50]

• DBS Bank, also comprising the POSB Bank.
• OCBC Bank
• United Overseas Bank

In South Africa, the "big five" are:[51]

• Absa Group Limited, majority owned by Barclays between 2005 and early 2018.
• FirstRand Bank (operators of First National Bank)
• Nedbank - minority-owned by Old Mutual.
• Standard Bank (Spun off from Standard Chartered Bank in 1987)

• Capitec Bank

In South Korea the "Big Four" are:[52]

• Woori Bank
• KB Kookmin Bank
• Shinhan Bank
• KEB Hana Bank

As of March 2017, the "big four" in Spain are:[53]

• Banco Santander
• BBVA
• Caixabank
• Bankia

There were formerly a "big six" (los seis grandes) composed of three banks that are now part of BBVA (Banco de Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, and Banco Argentaria) and three now combined as Santander (Banco Central, Banco Hispanoamericano, and Banco de Santander).

In Sri Lanka, the "big four" are, as of October 2018:[54]

• Bank of Ceylon
• People's Bank
• Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC
• Hatton National Bank PLC

In Sweden the "big four" are:[55][56]

• Svenska Handelsbanken
• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken
• Swedbank
• Nordea

In Switzerland, the "big three" hold 45% of all customer deposits. They are:[57]

• UBS
• Credit Suisse
• Raiffeisen (Switzerland)

In Taiwan, the five "systemic banks" are:[58][59]

• CTBC Bank
• Cathay United Bank
• Taipei Fubon Bank
• Mega International Commercial Bank
• Taiwan Cooperative Bank

In 2014, the "big four"[60] together held over 66% of gross loans and controlled more than 67% of total assets in the banking system.[61]

• Bangkok Bank
• Siam Commercial Bank
• Krung Thai Bank
• Kasikornbank

Prior to the Siamese Revolution, the banking system was controlled by foreign powers, particularly the "big four" European banks.[62]^:160–169

• The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in 1888 (Now HSBC)
• The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China in 1894 (Now Standard Chartered Bank Thailand)
• Banque de l'Indochine in 1897 (Now Banque Calyon, a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole)
• Mercantile Bank of India in 1923 (Now Citibank Thailand, a subsidiary of Citigroup)

Based on total assets of listed banks at the end of 2017,[63][64] big five banks in United Arab Emirates are:

• First Abu Dhabi Bank
• Emirates NBD
• Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
• Dubai Islamic Bank
• Mashreq

In the United States, the "big four" banks hold 45% of all U.S. customer deposits (as of 2018), and consist of:[70][71]

• JPMorgan Chase (headquartered in New York, New York, bank chartered in Columbus, Ohio)
• Bank of America (headquartered and bank chartered in Charlotte, North Carolina)
• Citigroup (headquartered in New York, New York, bank chartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota)
• Wells Fargo (headquartered in San Francisco, California, bank chartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

From a retail banking perspective, U.S. Bancorp (headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, bank chartered in Cincinnati, Ohio) and PNC Financial Services (headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bank chartered in Wilmington, Delaware) both have significantly more branches than Citibank, the retail banking arm of Citigroup.[72] However, Citibank still has significantly more assets than U.S. Bancorp and PNC.[73]

• Big Five (banks)