U.S. banks post some of worst losses of banks globally in 2008.(Briefing Book)(Brief article)(Company rankings)

The Banker magazine posted its annual ranking of the top 1,000 world banks, and the results portray the stunning damage done in the global banking sector last year.

The ranking appeared in the magazine's July 2009 issue. The Royal Bank of Scotland showed "the worst losses in the world at $59.3 billion, ahead of two American banks, Citigroup and Wells Fargo," according to a release announcing the results.

The annual rankings list banks by their capital strength. "Overall, the banks in the top 1,000 had an abysmal year. System profits fell 85.3 percent from $780.8 billion to $115 billion, and return on equity dropped from 20 percent to 2.69 percent," the release said.

But the damage done in U.S. banks was even more acute. The Banker reported, "U.S. banks have posted some of the worst losses. Between them, banks in the top 10 of the North American ranking have lost a staggering $473.66 billion since the crisis began."

Even with the concentrated losses, U.S. banks held the top three spots globally in terms of the amount of their Tier 1 capital. J.P. Morgan was first, and saw its Tier 1 capital jump by 53 percent due to the acquisitions of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Bank of America took the second spot among global banks ranked by Tier 1 capital. Citigroup took the third position globally. Wells Fargo saw its capital base increase by 136 percent with its acquisition of Wachovia. That moved the bank to sixth on the ranking of global banks by capital from 23rd in last year's Top 1,000 ranking, the magazine reported.

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