The list of the world's biggest banks is out and China is on top.
The biggest bank in the world today is Industrial and Commercial Bank of China with $3.062 trillion in assets, according to SNL Financial. The second spot goes to UK's HSBC with $2.723 trillion in assets followed by France's Crédit Agricole at number three overseeing $2.615 trillion.
Notice any bank missing from the top of the list? That's right. Not one U.S. bank made the top 5 of the list. In fact, the U.S.'s biggest bank is only the world's sixth largest. That bank is JPMorgan Chase with $2.463 trillion in assets as of September 2013.
The next U.S. bank on the list doesn't pop up on the list until the 12th spot; Bank of America's $2.126 trillion doesn't even put it in the top 10.
Overall, China has the largest number of big banks, with 14 of the top 100 headquartered in the country. Next is the United States, which has 10 of the top 100, according to SNL's rankings.
So what gives? The U.S. is home to some of the biggest, most powerful banks in the world yet French and Chinese make up most of the top 10.
The answer is in the accounting of assets. Most of the world including the European Union and China use a system dubbed International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS. The U.S. meanwhile uses Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP.
Under IFRS banks report the gross amount of derivative assets on their balance sheets, while U.S. GAAP standards say banks must report the net amount of derivative assets.
The difference is significant when it comes to tallying bank assets. In fact, if US banks were to use the IFRS system JPM and BofA would take the number one and two spots respectively. Citigroup, now 14th with $1.899 trillion, would be the world's 5th largest bank.
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Below is the adjusted ranking for U.S. banks if they reported under IFRS (see the original list here):
