The World Economic Forum’s freshly-released the Global Competitiveness survey, listing the countries with the safest banks in the world. Let's go through the 14 top ranked countrues. Do you agree with this list?
5 October, AtoZForex – The 11th largest bank in the world, Deutsche Bank is experiencing troubles, dragging all of the European banks down. The German lender's situation has sparked concerns in the markets upon the safety of banks globally, which led to the conduct of several researches. One of which is the World Economic Forum, the organization has released the Global Competitiveness survey.
The survey includes a number of indicators to present the health of the country’s banking sector. One of these indicators is a safeness of banks. The Global Competitiveness survey question to respondents sounded as follows: "in general, how do you perceive the soundness of banks?" The answers would vary between 1 (banks need more money) to 7 (banks are generally sound).
Let’s go through the list of 14 countries with the safest banks in the world.
The Czech Republic, Guatemala, and Luxembourg
Starting from the number 14, Czech Republic, where the banking sector is dominated by foreign-owned lenders.
Moving on, the 13th place goes to Guatemala with 3 key banking players Banco Industrial, Banco G&T Continental, and Banco de Desarrollo Rural. Each of them is evaluated as fairly sound.
12th position goes to Luxembourg, as the banks Banque et Caisse d’Épargne de l’État are usually perceived as highly safe.
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Panama, Sweden, and Chile
Panama takes the 11th place in the list of 14 countries with the safest banks in the world. There is no central bank in the country, with Panamanian lenders being run conservatively. Moreover, Panama is seen as a tax haven and the state was trying to get off this label since the financial crisis.
Sweden is 10th on the list, even though Swedish lenders are being pressured by the Riksbank's negative interest rate policy.
9th position goes to Chile, with Chileans being pretty confident about the banking system in the country, despite the outlook downgrade from Fitch.
Singapore, Norway, and Hong Kong
Singapore's trade-oriented market comes 8th, also being labeled one of the world’s great financial centers. Moreover, Singapore's economy has been ranked as the most open in the world, with more than 200 banks being present within the region.
The oil-reliant Norway is on the 7th place, although the country’s outlook got downgraded by Moody’s in August. 6th position is taken by one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong with its solid financial system.
Hong Kong’s financial markets can be characterised by a high degree of liquidity. Additionally, Hong kong markets operate under effective and transparent regulations,meeting all the international standards.
Australia and New Zealand
Australia comes next, taking the 5th position in the list, with the small group of four key banks mainly dominating the banking industry. Also, Australia is known as one of the largest mixed market economies in the world.
New Zealand is 4th on the list, with 5 major financial players in the sector. New Zealand has significant growth without much of competition, with Australia being the main trade partner for the state. In the New Zealand financial system firm financing is largely interfered by banks which are the single largest provider of debt finance, where the equity finance is playing a much lesser role.
Top 3 Countries with the safest banks in the world
We have reached the top three countries with the safest banks in the world. The top-3 is opened by Canada with its stable banking sector. In its history, the country had only 2 small regional bank failures.
2nd place goes to South Africa with its so-called ‘Big Four’ - Standard Bank, FirstRand Bank, Nedbank, and Barclays Africa. The country's economic health is highly supported by years of strong macroeconomic policies combined with deep and liquid capital markets.
The 1st place on the list is taken by Finland, with its highly industrialised, mixed economy. The banking sector in the country is dominated by co-operative and savings banks.
Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments section below.