The Top 10 Brazilian Banks based on Assets held as of December 2010 are listed below:

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Source: Banco Central Do Brasil

The top bank in this list is the state-owned Banco Do Brasil (BDORY). Its ADR currently pays a 1.12% dividend yield. The second largest bank is Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (ITUB) which is the largest private-sector bank in Brazil and has a 1.61% yield. A $10K investment 5 years ago would have grown to $21,878 as of May 1st, 2011 according to a S&P research report. For the first quarter the bank announced higher net earnings relative to the same period last year as its credit portfolio continues to expand.

Banco Bradesco (BBD) is the second largest private sector Brazilian bank. Like it rival Itau Unibanco, Bradesco also reported strong earnings for 1Q, 2011. Among the foreign bank subsidiaries in the above list Spain’s Santander (STD), UK-based HSBC (HBC) and US-based Citibank (C). Of these three banks Santander has the largest asset base in Brazil.

Disclosure: Long STD, BBD, ITUB