The World’s Largest Banks 2022: China’s ICBC Leads While JPMorgan Chase Falls

The World’s Largest Banks 2022: China’s ICBC Leads While JPMorgan Chase Falls

2021 was largely a good year for the banking sector as firms posted strong earnings and robust deposit growth thanks to trillions of dollars in pandemic stimulus spending from governments. This year, however, banks are facing more challenging economic environments as surging inflation and Russia's invasion of Ukraine both raise concerns about a possible recession, causing markets to fall. First-quarter earnings recently showed that bank profits took a major hit compared to a year ago as deal-making and trading activity slowed amid ongoing uncertainty in markets. What's more, the Federal Reserve has already hiked interest rates three times this year, with the federal funds rate currently in the 0. 75%-1% range. The central bank forecasts several additional rate hikes this year, as it begins to aggressively tighten monetary policy in a bid to combat surging inflation. While some banks with larger loan businesses—such as Bank of America BAC and Wells Fargo WFC —are likely to be beneficiaries of rising rates, others that rely more heavily on trading revenue may miss out. "While we see some headwinds for fee growth (deposit service fees, investment banking, and mortgages all retreating), we still expect strong overall revenue growth as loan growth returns and