So what's all this talk about U.S. banks being too big to fail? While regulators and legislators try to find ways to reduce the financial footprint of domestic institutions, American banks continue to lag behind their global competitors. In fact, fully eight of the top 10 banks in the world are based outside the U.S., according to the most recent rankings from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The biggest American institution, JPMorgan Chase, even has fallen down a notch to seventh. Bank of America is the only other U.S. institution in the global top 10.

The one caveat to the list is that JPMorgan Chase would move up the ladder considerably if it followed the same accounting rules as its foreign competitors. The bank's assets are computed under generally accepted accounting principles, while global banks use international financial reporting standards. The difference essentially is between reporting net derivative assets, as under GAAP, or gross derivative assets, as under IFRS. If the field was leveled in that regard, JPMorgan would move up No. 2, though that in itself is a decline from the No. 1 spot a year ago.

Of the top 20 banks, just four are in U.S., which has only six of the top 50. (Wells Fargo is No. 11, Citigroup is No. 13, Goldman Sachs is No. 28 and Morgan Stanley is No. 38.) By contrast, China occupies the top four slots and 11 of the top 50. (See the full list.)

The biggest of the big banks Bank Headquarters Assets ($Trillion as of Dec. 31, 2015) Assets (March 31, 2015) Rank 2016 Rank 2015 Industrial & Commercial Bank of China China 3.42 3.45 1 1 China Construction Bank China 2.83 2.82 2 2 Agricultural Bank of China China 2.74 2.72 3 3 Bank of China China 2.59 2.58 4 5 Mitsubishi UFJ Japan 2.46 2.38 5 8 HSBC Holdings UK 2.41 2.67 6 4 JPMorgan Chase US 2.35 2.58 7 6 BNP Paribas France 2.16 2.57 8 7 Bank of America US 2.14 2.14 9 9 Credit Agricole France 1.84 1.94 10 12