6 U.S. Banks Make List of World’s 50 Safest Banks

The list of the world’s safest banks for 2011 has been released by Global Finance Magazine with United States banks showing up six times. The magazine’s list is said to be a telling representation of how the world’s banks are viewed in terms of their stability.

Most U.S. Banks Land in Bottom Half

Global Finance has just released its 20th Annual Ranking of the World’s 50 Safest Banks. This year, the United States had six banks make the list. Unfortunately, all but one fell into the lower half:

• BNY Mellon (#24)
• JP Morgan Chase (#34)
• Wells Fargo (#36)
• U.S. Bancorp (#40)
• Northern Trust Corporation (#44)
• CoBank, ACB (#45)

While these numbers appear to be a bit disappointing for the U.S., they are actually an improvement over last year’s list where only five banks appeared (BNY Mellon, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and Northern Trust Bank) and none of them appeared in the top half.

Why Many U.S. Banks Are Considered Unsafe

It’s no secret that the United States has been economically troubled since the financial crisis in 2008. Millions have been laid off from their jobs, the stock market has been volatile and foreclosures have reached record highs. In the middle of the troubles have been U.S. banks.

Banks have taken the blame for both mortgage securities and robo-signing scandals that have caused significant damage to major sectors of the economy. Notes from Global Finance show that these factors could indeed play a role in U.S. banks not placing higher on the list.

“Bank stability is an ever-more pressing concern for the world’s corporations and investors,” the magazine noted in the list release. It went on to say that “companies are watching closely to see how these events are affecting their counterparties.”

While the magazine did not outright say that troubles of the U.S. economy have resulted in banks’ lower rankings, it did note that companies look for long-term credit strength when choosing which are considered safe enough to partner with. With the recent debt default scare and subsequent credit downgrade from S&P, the outlook for U.S. banks may be a bit shaky.