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European Countries with Most Top Banks. France and United Kingdom have the most number of large banks in Europe at six apiece, followed by Spain and Germany at five a piece. The combined assets held by French banks are at US$8.6 trillion, while UK banks hold about US$7.1 trillion in assets.
Top European Banks in 2018. The largest bank in Europe is HSBC Holdings with more than US$2.5 trillion in assets, followed by French banks BNP Paribas with US$2.357 trillion in assets and Crédit Agricole with US$2.1 trillion in assets.
1. HSBC Holdings PLC. The largest bank in Europe is HSBC Holdings with more than US$2.5 trillion in assets. HSBC Holdings is also the 7th largest bank in the world. The name HSBC is originally derived from the initials of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
Tour of HSBC headquarters, Canary Wharf, London
2. BNP Paribas. The largest bank in France is BNP Paribas with US$2.357 trillion in assets. Founded since 1848, it is also the 2nd biggest bank by assets in Europe and the eighth largest bank in the world.
History of BNP Paribas
3. Crédit Agricole. The "la banque verte" or the green bank, Crédit Agricole is the second largest bank in France with US$2.1 trillion in assets. Founded since 1894, it has become the third largest bank by asset in Europe and tenth largest globally.
Le Groupe Crédit Agricole en 3 minutes
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4. Deutsche Bank. Headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, Deutsche Bank is the largest bank in Germany and the fourth largest bank in Europe. Globally, Deutsche Bank is ranked the 15th largest bank by total assets (US$1.765 trillion).
5. Banco Santander. Founded since 1857 in Santander, Banco Santander is the largest bank in Spain and the 5th largest bank in Europe with about US$1.7 trillion in total assets-under-management.
6. Barclays PLC. Barclays is a British multinational investment bank and financial services company, headquartered in London. It is the 2nd largest bank in UK by assets (US$1.53 trillion) and the 6th largest bank in Europe.
Behind the scenes at BarClays' Global Head Office in London
In 2018, HSBC Holdings PLC is the 7th largest bank by total assets in the world (list of largest banks in the world).
You might be interested to know about:
- Europe: HSBC Holdings PLC and the largest banks in Europe
- France: BNP Paribas and the largest banks in France
- United Kingdom: HSBC Holdings PLC and the largest banks in United Kingdom
- Germany: Deutsche Bank and the largest banks in Germany
- Spain: Banco Santander and the largest banks in Spain
Interested in sovereign wealth funds (SWFs)? Learn about the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, the largest of which hails from Norway - the Government Pension Fund Global - with close to US$1 trillion under management. (list of world's largest sovereign wealth funds).