The following are the 25 most profitable banks in the world based on their 2008 earnings as per The Banker magazine:

[TABLE=167]

Not surprisingly Chinese banks dominates this list with a total of five and three among the top five ranks. ICBC of China ranks the most profitable in the world with a profit of $21.2B. Banco Santander (STD) of Spain came at third with a profit of $15.8B. Among the British banks , Barclays (BCS) and HSBC (HBC) are in this list because they are relatively in better shape than their peers like Llyods (LYG), Royal Bank of Scotland(RBS), etc. Royal Bank of Canada(RY) ranked number ten. Royal Bank is the most profitable of all large Canadian banks and is a long-term consistent performer. Banco Bradesco of Brazil (BBD) made it to this list at number two beating competitor Banco Itau Unibanco (ITUB).Among the big four Australian banks Westpac (WBK) and Commonwealth Bank Group are on this list.Bank of America Corp (BAC) and US Bank (USB) are the only two US banks in the rankings but came in at the bottom of the list mirroring the performance of the housing markets and the U.S. economy in general.