JP Morgan, Citi top new FSB list of financial influencers

A report released by the Financial Stability Board on Monday listed the U.S.-based banks JPMorgan and Citi at the top of a list of 30 banks whose size and complexity makes them highly influential players on the financial markets. Because the banks have been designated as posing the “greatest risks to the global financial system,” they are now required to hold 2.5 percent share capital  in order to absorb losses during a crisis. They replaced British banks HSBC and Barclay’s, which last year held the top two spots. Tomas Kinmonth, a strategist at ABN Amro, told Britain’s Guardian newspaper that the changes reflected the revised business models of some of the banks. “The European and UK banks are both retrenching and are trying to return to their core businesses…the lowering of Barclays within the ranking comes partly as the bank moves to focus just on the American and European markets,” said Kinmonth. The financial stability board makes recommendations regarding the global financial system, and was established in 2009 after the G20 Summit in London. It was created, in part, to mitigate market uncertainty due to the effects of large banks. Citi, under the group Citi Handlowy, has been operating in Poland since 1991, is one of the largest financial institutions in the country. JP Morgan was established in Poland in 1995, but didn’t open its first branch until 2011.