All of Canada’s Big Five banks have earned a spot on Global Finance’s annual list of the 50 safest banks in the world.

The 18th annual ranking of the world’s safest banks was compiled using a comparison of the long-term credit ratings and total assets of the 500 largest banks around the world. The magazine used ratings from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch.

Of the major Canadian banks, Royal Bank of Canada earned the highest safety score, taking the 10th spot among the international banks. Toronto-Dominion Bank was 14th, Scotiabank earned the 22nd spot, Bank of Montreal was 31st, and CIBC took the 37th spot.

Also on the list was Caisse centrale Desjardins, in 26th place.

The only major Canadian bank absent from the list was National Bank of Canada.

Topping the list of the safest banks for 2009 was KfW Bankengruppe of Germany. In second place was Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC), of France, and third was Bank Nederlands Gemeenten (BNG), of the Netherlands.

IE