Though the Forbes Global 2000 looks disappointing at first sight - in the wake of the global equity market turmoil - it's good news for SA companies that have largely improved their rankings significantly in the past year.

The biggest effect on the Forbes ranking was undoubtedly the dramatic fall in the rankings of the US banks. Wachovia, number 50 in last year's ranking, was swallowed up by Wells Fargo, while Lehman Brothers (97 last year) disappeared spectacularly as the subprime fiasco climaxed in September 2008. The once-mighty Merrill Lynch (431) was also a victim of subprime and was acquired by Bank of America.

The UK banks, too, with the exception of HSBC, were hit hard by the credit crunch. HBOS (44) was acquired by Lloyds TSB, while Royal Bank of Scotland fell from 11 to 431 and its former CEO, Fred "the Shred" Goodwin, was dubbed the world's worst banker after RBS teetered on the verge of collapse last year. But to add insult to injury, Goodwin has walked away unscathed, pocketing some mighty sums in terms of pension and other benefits.

Citigroup, formerly the largest bank in America and one of the world's largest, now languishes at number 472.

Though the US and European banks fell, the same wasn't true of Chinese banks. The biggest, ICBC, is knocking on the door of the Top 10 (number 12) having been 42nd last year.

But the SA achievements are truly impressive. Standard Bank moved up from 266 to 223 and stamped its mark firmly on the global stage. MTN soared from 522 last year to 382 this year, once again underlining that in a remarkably short time it has "come of age" in the global telecom arena.

The other SA firms in this year's ranking are Sasol (305), FirstRand (332), Impala (772), Telkom (786), Gold Fields (1 097), Bidvest (1 102), Sanlam (1 142), Remgro (1 220), Naspers (1 240), AngloGold (1 448), Steinhoff (1 461), ARM (1 664), RMBH (1 760), Shoprite (1 769) and Harmony (1 988). Barloworld, Aveng, Imperial and Investec were included last year but fell out this year.

The diversified mining companies all managed to perform reasonably well in the ranking, with BHP Billiton leading the pack in going from 83 last year to 52 this year. Rio Tinto went from 77 to 69, while Anglo American went from 147 to 165. Brazil's Vale moved up marginally, from 76 to 74. And this occurred in an exceptionally turbulent year for commodities.

Oil firms - Shell, BP and Exxon Mobil - take three out of the top five spots, largely as a result of the windfall profits they made in 2008 as the crude oil price hit a record close to US$150/barrel.

The global brewers are all well represented in the rankings. Though Anheuser-Busch (322 last year) fell out of the rankings on being acquired by Inbev, the combined group came in at 138. SABMiller climbed from 305 to 217, with Heineken bringing up the rear at 740.