Brazilian fintech firm Nu Holdings Ltd. joined S&P Global Market Intelligence's latest list of the 30 largest banks in Latin America and the Caribbean by assets as it prepares to enter the US market.

Nu placed 15th in the ranking with total assets of $74.89 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025. The company, which operates Nubank, recently secured conditional regulatory approval to establish a US national bank as part of its expansion plan.

Nu's US subsidiary is expected to begin operations within 18 months, expanding the digital lender's offerings in the country while continuing to focus on its core markets. In Brazil, Nu is disrupting the banking system, becoming the largest provider of personal loans and the second largest in credit cards, Jefferies wrote in an April 14 note. Nu's 2025 net profit increased 51% year over year.

Nu placed one notch higher than Mexico-based Grupo Financiero Banamex SA de CV, which fell six places to 16th — the steepest drop in the sample, with total assets of $74.21 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025. US bank Citigroup Inc. has been reducing its stake in Banamex and in February struck a $2.5 billion deal to divest a further 24% stake, bringing its interest down to 51% ahead of the Mexican retail bank's planned IPO.

Brazil's Itaú Unibanco Holding SA remained the region's largest lender with $562.14 billion in total assets. Domestic peers Banco do Brasil SA, Banco Bradesco SA, Caixa Econômica Federal and Banco Santander (Brasil) SA rounded out the top five, followed by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA's Mexican unit, Grupo Financiero BBVA México SA de CV. All six banks maintained their rankings.

For the latest ranking, company assets were adjusted on a best-efforts basis for pending mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as M&A deals that closed after the end of the period. To be eligible for inclusion in pro forma adjustments, the amount of assets being transferred had to be at least $2 billion, unless otherwise noted. Assets reported by non-US dollar filers were converted to dollars using period-end exchange rates. Total assets were taken on an "as-reported" basis, and no adjustments were made to account for differing accounting standards. The majority of banks were ranked by total assets as of Dec. 31, 2025. In the previous ranking, published April 10, 2025, most company assets were as of Dec. 31, 2024, and were adjusted for pending and completed M&A as of March 31, 2025.

Brazil-based Banco BTG Pactual SA rose one place to 7th, while Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV fell a notch to 8th.

In aggregate, Brazilian banks held the largest total assets, with roughly $2.379 trillion as of the end of 2025, far ahead of Mexican banks' $700.14 billion and Chilean lenders' $380.58 billion.

Overall, eight countries made it to the latest ranking, up from seven in the past two series after Panama-based Bicapital Corp. placed 30th, the first time it's been in the top 30 since 2023, and BAC Holding International Corp., in the 25th spot, relocated its headquarters to Panama from Costa Rica.