Hang Seng Bank jumps from number 10 to number 1 in Bloomberg's latest World's Strongest Banks list.

The latest Bloomberg Markets magazine ranking of the world's strongest banks in the 2013 fiscal year shows that out of the 21 global banks that made this list, eight are Asian. 

Hang Seng Bank, based in Hong Kong, now occupies the number one spot, edging out Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, which had fallen to number four after taking the lead in 2010 and 2011. Qatar National Bank, which was number one in 2012, had dropped to number five, although it still is the strongest bank in the Middle East and Africa. BOC Hong Kong, Hang Seng's local rival, ranked at number ten. 

Hang Seng, which ranked number ten in 2012, is the second-biggest retail bank in Hong Kong with 220 branches and has been actively expanding its operations, particularly in China. It also has a strong retail banking and wealth management business, which accounts for 31.4 per cent of its earnings, the report said. As at the end of 2013, the bank's assets has increased 53 per cent from 2007 to HK$1.14 trillion ($147 billion). 

Other Asian banks that made it to the top ten are Norinchukin Bank of Japan (number two) and DBS Group of Singapore (number seven). Desjardins Group of Canada tied with Norinchukin at number two, Bayerische Landesbank of Germany was at number six, Pohjola Bank of Finland was at number eight, while Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken of Sweden was at number nine. 

The strongest bank ranking includes lenders with at least $100 billion in assets as at 1 May 2014. Criteria included tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets, nonperforming assets to total assets, loan-loss reseres to nonperforming assets and efficiency or costs to revenue. Hang Seng's overall score figured at 20.8, while the number two Desjardians Group figured at 22.1.