The largest 100 banks in the U.S. hold a combined $18.8 trillion in consolidated assets, but recent collapses of medium-sized banks like Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic have caused worries throughout the banking world.
This article was written by Avery Koop and originally published by Visual Capitalist.
This visual using data from the Federal Reserve ranks the country’s 100 largest banks by the size of their consolidated assets.
Consolidated assets refers to the sum of all of the bank’s assets. As well as liquid cash, this includes non-liquid assets like stocks, bonds, property, and the subtraction of its liabilities.The Top 100 Banks
America’s biggest bank is JP Morgan Chase with over $3.3 trillion in assets, with Bank of America trailing behind in second place with $2.5 trillion. Here’s a closer look at the numbers (for the top ten):
The first and second place banks combined account for around 30% of the consolidated assets on this list. On the flip side, the smallest bank is Bremer Bank at $15.8 billion in consolidated assets. While this seems small in the context of this list, there are actually thousands of even smaller commercial financial institutions in the country.
Many banks have seen significant changes to their ranking since the last Fed data at the end of 2022. BMO Harris moved up 10 spots, going from $177 billion in consolidated assets to $265 billion—an increase of 50%. In February, the bank acquired the San Francisco-based Bank of the West (which previously ranked 34th on this list).
First Citizens also saw its rank improve, going from 30th to 16th, thanks to the acquisition of the remnants of Silicon Valley Bank.
In May 2023, a planned merger between First Horizon and TD Bank was mutually terminated. The merger, had it gone ahead, would have seen TD Bank surpass the size of Capital One.
Banking Heavyweights
Typically, big banks are less of a risk for borrowers in terms of their liquidity, holding huge sums in diversified assets, whereas smaller and more regional American banks have a narrower margin for error. However, many other factors beyond size play into risk, like an institution’s loan portfolio or management style.
Volatility in the banking sector is expected to have implications on the wider economy. For example, bank lending capacity is expected to decrease by 1% this year, a shift which the IMF expects will take almost half a percentage point off the U.S.’ overall GDP.
The largest banks have set aside billions in anticipation of bad loans as a result of pressure from rising interest rates. JP Morgan Chase currently has $2.3 billion in provisions/reserves built. Here’s a look at some of the current reserves that banks have set aside based on most recent data:
Bank Volatility
Small and medium sized banks (<$250 billion in assets) play an important role in the economy. Collectively, these banks are responsible for 45% of consumer lending and 80% of commercial real estate lending.
However, lending by these banks has been tightening up, given the current economic conditions and fears around bank collapses.
Overall, continued turmoil in the banking sector would likely reduce profitability for banks and ultimately slow economic growth.
