The Top 50 Banks of Brazil based on assets held as of December 31,2008 are listed below. The source of the data is Banco Central Do Brasil which is the Central Bank of Brazil.

The largest 50 Brazilian banks based on Assets held in R$ thousands (as of December 31,2008):

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Source: Banco Central Do Brasil

The largest bank in Brazil is the private-sector bank Itau Unibanco Banco Multiplo S.A. (ITU). This bank, former by the merger of Banco Itau and Unibanco, has over hundred thousand employees and 3,718 branches. After reaching a low of $6.70 the stock has nearly doubled to close at $13.63 on April 10th.

The second largest bank is Bank of Brazil (aka Banco Do Brasil) which is state-owned.Though it has more branches its asset size is smaller.Last week, its CEO Antonio Francisco Lima Neto was fired by the President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The reason for his firing was that the bank was charging high interest on loans to consumers. Banco Do Brasil shares do not trade on the US markets. It must be noted that the Brazilian’s central bank name is similar sounding but is called Banco Central Do Brasil.

The third largest bank by assets is Banco Bradesco(BBD), one of the top private-sector banks and is the main competitor for Itau bank.BBD reached the 52-week low of $7.40 late last year and closed at $12.25 on April 10th.

Three foreign-owned banks appear in the top ten positions.These banks are the Spain-based Banco Santander(STD), HSBC Bank (HBC) of UK and the US-based Citibank(C).