By Igor Astarhov
The ranking for 2010 includes two Belarusian banks: Belagroprombank and Belarusbank. The former is placed 325th (up 78 positions on 2009), while the latter is ranked 441st (up 11 places). They are now amongst the 25 largest banks in Central and Eastern Europe, regarding Tier 1 capital. Their inclusion in the global ranking shows their stability and strong position in Belarus and abroad.
The Banker compiles its ‘Top 1000 World Banks’ using the Basel Bank for International Settlements method. Tier 1 capital is the major criterion. The Bank of America leads, with capital estimated at $163.6bn, while JP Morgan is placed second ($142.5bn) and HSBC is third ($133.2bn).
Belagroprombank is authorised to serve state programmes and, in terms of its regulatory capital, is the largest credit and financial institution in the country. It has also been rated by Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s.
Belarusbank is the largest multi-functional financial-credit institution in the country, offering over 100 banking services and products — including cash and settlement services, lending, deposit operations, leasing, factoring, collection, international and interbank settlements, foreign exchange and conversion operations, operations with bank cards, consulting and depository services.
