The Asian Banker 500 (AB500) is an evaluation of the 500 largest commercial banks and financial holding companies (banks) in the Asia Pacific region. This year, the financial information in the first half of financial year 2020 (1H FY2020) was collated and incorporated into the assessment of how banks performed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The evaluation covers 23 countries and territories, and the 500 largest banks combined had $66.5 trillion in total assets, $34.2 trillion in net loans and $46.5 trillion in customer deposits.

China and Japan continue to lead the region in terms of number of banks on the list. Chinese banks and Japanese banks account for 49.5% and 24.7% of the aggregate total assets of the 500 largest banks in Asia Pacific, respectively, while the share of total assets is less than 0.5% in 10 out of 23 economies. The share of net profit for Chinese banks is 64.9%, much higher than 7.6% for Japanese banks. The number of Indian banks on the list was down from 39 in last year’s evaluation to 29, which is largely driven by the consolidation of public sector banks.

Top 10 largest banks in the region comprise six Chinese banks and four Japanese banks. Another six Chinese banks and one Japanese bank are on the list of top 20 largest banks. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group moved up one spot to sixth thanks to stronger asset growth than Japan Post Bank, but its total assets was still 54% less than Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group as at the end of September 2020. Postal Savings Bank of China also improved one place in the ranking, coming in at ninth position, and Bank of Communications fell to tenth position. China Minsheng Banking Corporation surpassed China CITIC Bank to become the tenth largest bank in China.

Average asset growth rate of Asia Pacific banks on the list accelerated to 10.3% year-on-year (YoY) at the end of 1H FY2020 from 6.6% YoY at the end of 1H FY2019. These banks also registered a faster loan growth, at 11.3% YoY at the end of 1H FY2020, compared to 8.3% YoY in the prior year. Meanwhile, banks in the region saw their average deposit growth increase from 7.6% YoY at the end of 1H FY2019 to 10.5% YoY.

Banks’ balance sheet growth accelerated the most in Thailand and India, which can be largely attributed to mergers and acquisitions. In Thailand, in addition to Bangkok Bank’s acquisition of Bank Permata, TMB Bank also acquired Thanachart Bank and its total assets was up by 140%. Countries like Japan, Australia, Kazakhstan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka also witnessed much faster balance sheet growth. In contrast, apart from countries with only three banks or less in the ranking, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Philippines saw average bank lending growth decelerate the most.

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