China's Big Four banks score high on global indicators

China's four largest banks scored high in most global systemic importance indicators, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence report on Thursday.

These banks are becoming more entwined with the global banking system, it said.

It also means that the world is more exposed to domestic risks facing the Chinese lenders, S&P Global Market Intelligence said, especially as they grow more complex.

Bank of China Ltd, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, and China Construction Bank Corp were on the 2018 list of 29 global systemically important banks, or G-SIBs, published by the international Financial Stability Board.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence's analysis, Bank of China scored high in all 12 indicators measuring systemic importance of G-SIBs. China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China reported gains in 10 indicators, while ICBC posted increases in eight, as per the end of 2018 data.

All four Chinese banks reported increases in total exposures, payments and cross-jurisdictional activities in 2018. These indicators have a combined weighting of 46.67 percent of the final assessment of their systemic importance, according to the report.

Chinese banks' growing size, as well as cross-jurisdictional claims and liabilities, indicate a continuous integration of the country's lenders into the global financial flow, said Sam Theodore, a managing director of the financial institutions group at Scope Insights.