Credit crisis turns financial titans into pygmies:

VANCOUVER, Canada (Reuters.com) -- Almost a year ago, I analyzed in this column the extent to which the decline of the U.S. dollar had reshuffled the ranks of the world's biggest companies. What a difference a year makes. Since then, global equity markets have collectively lost 50 percent of their market capitalization, energy and commodity prices have plunged, and the global economy hovers on the brink of recession for the first time in decades. Currencies have also been unusually volatile in recent months, with the U.S. dollar getting stronger and the euro trending lower. Needless to say, in this environment, it hasn't been business as usual for Big Business.
The biggest losers, not surprisingly, are the world's financial titans.The biggest financial crisis in a generation has turned many giants into pygmies within the space of a year. This is especially true for banks and financial institutions in the U.S. and Europe. While a number of these banks had already slipped in their rankings last year, they have fallen off the A-list totally this time. For example, Bank of America ranked No. 8 on the Financial Times Global 500 as of March 31, 2007, and fell to No. 23 a year later, at which point it had a market capitalization of $168 billion.
But an 80 percent plunge in the stock since then has slashed its market value to $34 billion (all figures as of Feb 25). As a result, it does not figure currently among the world's 100 largest companies. Citigroup's fall from grace has been even more precipitous. It went from No. 4 on the FT 500 in 2007 to No.53 in 2008, when it had a market value of $107 billion. Following a decline of 90 percent over the past year, it now has a market capitalization of $13 billion.
Some of the biggest European banks have been hit hard as well. Royal Bank of Scotland, which ranked No. 97 on the FT 500 in 2008, has seen its market value dwindle from $67 billion to $16 billion. So have other stalwarts such as Barclays and Deutsche Bank, down 82 percent and 74 percent respectively over the past year. Is it any wonder, then, that there are few familiar names from the financial sector among the world's Top 25 companies? Of the four financial institutions that currently figure in the Top 25, three are from China.
The fourth is Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which ranks No. 14 with a market value of $122 billion. The next representative from the U.S. financial sector, J P Morgan, only shows up at No. 40. U.S. banks may now seem a trifle under-represented among the world's biggest companies. However, the diversity and resilience of the U.S. economy can be gauged from the fact that it continues to dominate the list of the world's largest companies, despite being Ground Zero for the financial crisis.
A year ago, U.S. companies accounted for nine of the Top 25; that number has since risen to 11. Europe, which then had eight companies in the Top 25, now has seven. China's representation has gone up by one to five, while Japan and Brazil have one company each. There are as many as 32 U.S. firms in the next tier of 75 companies, which means that the U.S. accounts for 43 of the world's 100 biggest companies. Europe has 33, while China has 9. The other BRIC nations - Brazil, Russia and India - do not have much representation among the world's 100 biggest companies, with a total of only four between them. Japan, thanks to the surging yen, now accounts for six, up from only one last year.