Royal Bank Of Canada (RY)

RBC runs commercial banks in 7 states in Southeastern United States. The region, outside of Florida, has seen relatively stable housing values, employment, but also, has greater population growth than other parts of the United States. This geographical focus will keep RBC from suffering less from the US financial meltdown than regional banks located in Nevada, California, and Arizona for example.

Royal Bank of Canada was founded as a private commercial bank in 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Today, it is Canada’s largest bank. Here’s how it looks:

• More than 80,000 employees worldwide.
• Total assets of $580 billion, with 2008 income of $3.65 billion.
• Established in North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Middle East.
• A large retail banking presence in the Southeast United States.
• Operates in personal and commercial banking, wealth-management services, insurance, corporate, investment banking, transaction processing, and trustee services on a global basis.
• Has paid a common-stock dividend every year since 1870.
• Now ranks as world’s seventh-largest bank by market capitalization (as of Jan. 15, 2009).

The World Economic Forum (a Geneva based think-tank) ranked Canadian banks as the soundest in the World. The US finished 40th. Lower usage of leverage and more conservative lending practices have led to relatively healthy balance sheets for Canadian banks compared to competitors in the US, Europe, and parts of Asia. The good capital ratios will allow the banks to buy plenty of cheap assets when the dust settles from the 2008 Financial Crisis.

With globalization rising, the need for cross-border and cross-services increases. RBC is the 5th largest financial institution in North America in terms of revenue. The bank provides basic personal and business checking, but also provides insurance, manages assets, and acts as a broker. Its scale and size into several markets helps provide liquidity and one-stop shopping for its customers.