Europe is home to some of the world’s top banks, many of which are household names. In this article, we look at the 50 largest banks in Europe, the countries in which they base their headquarters and their total market capitalisations. To generate this most recent ranking, the company metrics have been adjusted to take into account any pending acquisitions, divestitures and mergers, and M&A deals which were due to close after the reporting period through 15th April came to an end. All assets reported by filers from outside of Europe have been converted into Euros by using period end exchange rates. Most of these banks have been ranked in terms of their total assets recorded on December 31st 2015. Out of the top 50 banks in Europe, the top 20 alone can boast a combined market capitalisation of 1.1 trillion Euros.
For the 4th consecutive year, HSBC Holdings Plc have continued to hold its place as number one among Europe’s leading banks in 2016, even though it has now lost its place in the top five global banks. The bank, which has its base in London, held pro forma assets of 2.178 trillion Euros in April of this year, and this makes it the only one of the European banks that has over 2 trillion Euros worth of assets, even taking into account the downward adjustment by 40.67 billion Euros of HSBC’s assets to take account of HSBC Bank Brasil SA – Banco Multiplo’s pending sale to Banco Bradesco SA.
The runner up position for this year’s ranking has been maintained once again by BNP Paribas SA, who reported 1.994 trillion Euros in assets, which is down 16.64% from last year’s ranking of 2.392 trillion Euros. In the top five leading European banks, there has only been one change to last year’s ranking, and this is Credit Agricole SA which has changed positions with Barclays Plc, Barclays Plc having fallen to fifth position while Credit Agricole has risen through the ranks up to number 3. There has only been a single new entry into the ranks of the top 50, and this is Banco Poplare Societa Cooperativa, an Italian bank, who have risen to take a higher ranking thanks to their pending merger of equals with another Italian bank, the Banca Poplare di Milano Scarl – a transaction that will add another 50.20 billion Euros in assets to the bank’s total. Germany is well represented in the top 50 ranking, with 7 of their national banks in the list, while the UK, Spain and France each have six of their own banks in the ratings.
Here is a table of the 50 leading banks in Europe.
Ranking |
Company Name |
Country |
Total Assets (in Billions of Euros) |
1 |
HSBC Holdings Plc |
UK |
2608.15 |
2 |
BNP Paribas |
France |
2417 |
3 |
Deutsche Bank |
Germany |
2006.71 |
4 |
Credit Agricole Group |
France |
1970.4 |
5 |
Barclays Plc |
UK |
1819.61 |
6 |
Societe Generale |
France |
1624.97 |
7 |
Banco Santander |
Spain |
1494.39 |
8 |
Group BPCE |
France |
1367.34 |
9 |
Royal Bank of Scotland |
UK |
1214.11 |
10 |
Lloyds Banking Group |
UK |
1142.22 |
11 |
UBS Group AG |
Switzerland |
1010.34 |
12 |
UniCredit spa |
Italy |
992040 |
13 |
ING Group |
Netherlands |
985566 |
14 |
Credit Suisse Group |
Switzerland |
838547 |
15 |
BBVA |
Spain |
830197 |
16 |
Credit Mutuel |
France |
823263 |
17 |
Intesa Sanpaulo |
Italy |
798206 |
18 |
Rabobank Group |
Netherlands |
764044 |
19 |
Nordea Bank |
Sweden |
746955 |
20 |
Standard Chartered Plc |
UK |
660989 |
21 |
Commerzbank AG |
Germany |
592682 |
22 |
KfW Group |
Germany |
569979 |
23 |
Danske Bank |
Denmark |
520982 |
24 |
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) |
Italy |
469604 |
25 |
ABN AMRO Group AV |
Netherlands |
466199 |
26 |
DZ Bank AG |
Germany |
454404 |
27 |
Sberbank (Volksbank) |
Russia |
404200 |
28 |
Caixabank |
Spain |
392942 |
29 |
Svenska Handelsbanken |
Sweden |
356675 |
30 |
DNB Group |
Norway |
317923 |
31 |
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken |
Sweden |
316784 |
32 |
Nationwide Building Society |
UK |
216652 |
33 |
KBC Group NV |
Belgium |
295651 |
34 |
Swedbank |
Sweden |
292998 |
35 |
Landesbank Baden-Wurttemburg |
Germany |
288988 |
36 |
Dexia |
Belgium |
262496 |
37 |
La Banque Postale |
France |
251494 |
38 |
Bayerische Landesbank |
Germany |
249598 |
39 |
Banco Sabadell |
Spain |
231342 |
40 |
Erste Group Bank AG |
Austria |
227574 |
41 |
Bankia |
Spain |
226457 |
42 |
Raiffeissen Schweiz |
Switzerland |
218059 |
43 |
Nykredit |
Denmark |
210418 |
44 |
Belfius Bank |
Belgium |
209212 |
45 |
Norddeutsche Landesbank |
Germany |
199377 |
46 |
Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen |
Germany |
195441 |
47 |
Bank VTB |
Russia |
193270 |
48 |
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena |
Italy |
182930 |
49 |
BNG Bank |
Netherlands |
181895 |
50 |
Banco Popular Espanol |
Spain |
181641 |