The Bloomberg Market has published the World’s Top 20 Strongest Banks, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Bank topping the list. This is the second consecutive year in which Hang Seng has been ranked number one.
Coming in second on this year’s list is Japanese Norinchukin Bank, with Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking ranked in third placing in what have become yearly rankings.
As reported by Bloomberg, a Hong-Kong based analyst at Macquarie Group said, “The time of the global financial conglomerates is coming to an end.
“What you should really be doing is trying to be strong in your domestic market.”
Since its establishment, Hang Seng has stayed true to its domestic customers, working well in retail and commercial banking. Bloomberg say that this is what Hang Seng’s parent company, HSBC Holdings, has failed to do, and they now see themselves struggling to reduce costs.
Hang Seng is one of five Asian banks ranked in the top 10 this year.
“Asian banks stand out because of the huge wealth creation in the region. A lot of the banks are well capitalised,” says Arthur Kwong, head of Asia-Pacific equities at BNP Paribas Investment Partners in Hong Kong.
Sitting atop the rankings in first place shows Hang Seng’s success in maintaining its one key focus: its customers.
