How big is your bank? Chase, Bank of America duel for No. 1 slot

 
SNL Financial has compiled a list of the 50 biggest U.S. banks at the end of the second quarter, which shows Bank of America Corp. barely edging out JPMorgan Chase & Co. as the No. 1 U.S. financial institution as measured by assets.

Assets are the loans, securities and other holdings that are supposed to make money for banks -- a category that unfortunately for the banks and the economy has included an awful lot of toxic money-losers these past few years.

As of June 30, BofA had a little more than $2.25 trillion in assets and Chase just under $2.25 trillion, SNL Financial said in a news release Monday. Citigroup Inc. was third with $1.96 trillion. Wells Fargo & Co., the only California-based company near the top, was in fourth with $1.26 trillion.

Chase led in deposits, however, with $1.05 trillion to BofA's $1.04 trillion.

Other California banks on the list included UnionBanCal Corp., a subsidiary of Japan's Mitsubushi UFJ Financial Group Inc., in 22nd place with $80.1 billion in assets; and BancWest Corp., owned by France's BNP Paribas, in 24th place with $74.3 billion in assets. Like Wells, the parents of Union Bank and Bank of the West are based in San Francisco.

Southern California institutions, well down in not-too-big-to-fail territory, include No. 38 OneWest Bank (Pasadena, $26.4 billion in assets); No. 43 City National Corp. (Los Angeles, $22.5 billion in assets); and No. 45 East West Bancorp (Pasadena, $21.9 billion in assets).

Northern California's First Republic Bank (No. 42, $23.8 billion in assets) and Silicon Valley Bank parent SVB Financial Group (No. 50, $19.4 billion in assets) popped up on the list as well.

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--E. Scott Reckard

Photo: JPMorgan Chase Chairman Jamie Dimon, right, during recent West Coast bus tour, presides over a bank that is No. 1 in deposits and No. 2 in assets. Credit: Los Angeles Times / Gary Friedman