The World's strongest banks...

Canadian banks are world's strongest: Bloomberg, Moody's

Ever since they emerged mostly unscathed from the financial crisis, Canada's banks have been widely recognized as the strongest in the industry.

Today Bloomberg Markets magazine announced that five of the Big Six have made it into its list of the world's 20 best capitalized banks, with National Bank of Canada earning the best score of its Canadian peers, ending up at the number three spot. (Read the story here.)

National is followed by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in fourth spot and Toronto-Dominion Bank at 12. Next comes Royal Bank of Canada (17) with Bank of Montreal trailing at (19).

Topping the list at number one is Oversea-Chinese Banking of Singapore followed by Svenska Handelsbanken of Sweden.

Bloomberg Markets said the ranking takes into account five factors including Tier 1 capital, non-performing assets to total assets, loan loss reserves to non-performing assets, deposits to funding and efficiency.

The rating agency Moody's compiles a bank financial strength ranking once a quarter, however the most recent results are somewhat different from Bloomberg's.

The Moody's list puts TD at the top, tied for number one with Bank of New York Mellon and Rabobank Nederland. The rest of the Canadian banks make more than respectable showings in the top 40.

The World's Strongest Banks – Bloomberg Markets
1 Oversea-Chinese Banking (Singapore)
2 Svenska Handelsbanken (Sweden)
3 National Bank of Canada
4 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
5 DBS Group Holdings (Singapore)
6 United overseas Bank (Singapore)
7 Fifth Third Bancorp (U.S.)
8 Banco Bradesco (Brazil)
9 UBS (Switzerland)
10 BOC Hong Kong (Holdings)
11 Banco Santander (Brazil)
12 Toronto Dominion Bank
13 Credit Suisse Group (Switzerland)
14 JPMorgan Chase (U.S.)
15 Standard Chartered (U.K.)
16 CitiGroup (U.S.)
17 Royal Bank of Canada
18 Hang Seng Bank (Hong Kong)
19 Bank of Montreal
20 Sberbank (Russia)

Moody's Top 10 Banks
Issuer/Entity Bank Financial Strength Rating (BFSR)
1 The Toronto-Dominion Bank                          B+
2 The Bank of New York Mellon                         B+
3 Rabobank Nederland                                      B+
4 Hang Seng Bank Limited                                 B+
5 Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp.        B+
6 U.S. Bank National Association                       B+
7 Commerce Bank, N.A.                                     B+
8 Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd                B
9 JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA                               B
10 National Australia Bank Limited                   B