Eight Malaysian banks made Forbes’ inaugural ranking of the world’s top-performing banks in 2026.
Public Bank ranked fifth in Tier 2, the highest position among Malaysia’s three entries in the category.
Maybank placed 14th while CIMB Group Holdings ranked 35th. Tier 2 covers banks with assets from US$100 billion to US$500 billion.
Hong Leong Financial Group ranked ninth in Tier 3 while RHB Bank placed 37th. The category covers banks with assets from US$50 billion to US$100 billion.
Bank Rakyat placed 32nd in Tier 4 while AmBank Group ranked 68th. Tier 4 covers banks with assets from US$20 billion to US$50 billion.
Alliance Bank Malaysia was the country’s sole Tier 5 entry and placed 90th. This category covers banks with assets from US$10 billion to US$20 billion.
Forbes and Statista compiled the ranking using financial data, desk research and bank submissions.
Unlike its survey-based bank rankings, the new list assesses financial performance.
Banks were evaluated on profitability, earnings quality, resilience, asset quality and efficiency.
Eligible institutions needed more than US$3 billion in assets, audited financial statements and at least three years of financial data.
They were grouped into six tiers by asset size. The final list covered 500 banks across 89 countries, with no payment required to participate or be selected.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Malaysia, based on image by Akbarunyam via Magnific
