On Monday, credit card firm Visanet SA will hit the stock market - and is estimated to rake in $3.6 billion. That will thrash 2009’s current highest IPO - China Zhongwang Holdings, which launched on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (^HSI) with $1.2 billion raised.

IPOs like these signal that the BRIC economies are once again on the move - with Brazilian president Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva banging the drum when leaders of the four nations met in Russia last week.

Quoted by Reuters, Lula proclaimed:

"The good news is that rich countries are in crisis and emerging countries are making a huge contribution to save the economy and, consequently, save the rich countries. Wealthy countries are no longer the only ones that account for the world’s production capacity and consumption."

That’s true. But how much of it is attributable to emerging markets?

Redressing The Global Imbalances… BRIC-Style

The BRIC meeting last week was a chance for the four leading emerging market nations to come together and plot their triumph over the mammoth, industrialized economies.

Okay, not quite. But in the first summit of its kind, the four countries definitely did discuss using their existing strength to enhance their fortunes on the global market even further.

In short, that means addressing the balance of the global financial system - a debate that included ideas on how to create more diversity away from the U.S. dollar as the world’s dominant currency and give the BRIC nations better representation on the global stage.

Or, as Lula da Silva and Russian president Dmitri Medvedev respectively put it, to "change the political and trade geography of the world" and "create conditions for a more just world order."

Medvedev argues that you can’t have a balanced, successful global system if most of the markets are priced in U.S. dollars. He’d like to redress that imbalance by having Russia buy bonds from the other BRIC nations in return for them upping their ruble reserves.

But with the Russian ruble, Brazilian real, and Indian rupee down 35%, 25%, and 35% this year respectively, those currencies aren’t exactly blowing the dollar out of the water.

So can the BRIC succeed with its plans?

These Davids Won’t Slay Goliath… Yet

According to Reuters, the BRIC nations currently account for about 15% of the global economy.

In addition, while the U.S. racks up GDP of about $14 trillion per year alone, the BRIC nations’ combined total is only about $9.4 trillion. And the GDP per capita, poverty levels, and infrastructure in these countries are significantly worse than in the U.S., with America doubling the output of the BRIC countries combined.

So the BRIC group clearly has a long way to go to usurp the big boys. But Goldman Sachs predicts that by joining forces, it’s possible that the BRIC nations could surpass the G7 in 20 years time, with China’s economy climbing above the U.S.

However, with China’s GDP almost surpassing the combined total of its three fellow BRIC members, the group itself is imbalanced. In addition, the BRIC is not a formal union.