The awards for excellence are upon us again and The Banker has the privilege of welcoming bankers from all over the world to our annual black-tie dinner at London’s Dorchester Hotel. Some of our winners will be reading this issue of the magazine as they speed back to their hotels in black taxi cabs having enjoyed, we hope, an evening that is usually both entertaining and memorable.
Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest bank, last week acquired Finland’s third largest bank, Sampo Bank, for DKr30.1bn (€4bn), a deal that Sampo Group’s chief executive Björn Wahlroos says was simply too tempting to turn down. The acquisition is still subject to the approval of the relevant authorities but the go-ahead is expected early in 2007.
The Dubai International Financial Centre’s (DIFC) strategy to promote young and talented individuals to prominent roles has this month resulted in the appointment of Nasser Mohammed bin Hussein Alshaali as chief executive officer of the DIFC Authority, one of the centre’s main bodies.
This year The Banker Country Award winners for Guinea and Ghana are both called International Commercial Bank (ICB) and both are subsidiaries of an emerging markets banking group that now spans three continents. The main shareholders are a group of Malaysian investors.
Karina Robinson interviews Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italy’s minister of economy and finance, the man tasked with the unenviable job of reeling in the nation’s budget deficit.
Credit Suisse’s head of European ECM and co-head of the global markets solutions group in Europe tells Geraldine Lambe that execution history is as important as league tables and that Credit Suisse is reaping rewards for reorganisation
Getting in first with sharia-compliant deals: (from left) David Kemp, Catharine Furrer-Lech, Ismail Dadabhoy, Sabri Ulus and Idayu Zainuddin
UBS’s Islamic finance team talk to Edward Russell-Walling about the new products they have been working on, including the world’s first sharia-compliant exchangeable sukuk for Khazanah Nasional and sharia-compliant and commodity-linked certificates.
MDM’s auto loan securitisation issue, the largest ever out of Russia, was comfortably oversubscribed and more issues are in the offing, reinforcing the trend in the CIS region. Edward Russell-Walling reports.
Can the humble real estate investment trust (Reit) solve the yield crisis in the bond market? At the moment investors are desperate for long-term bonds and demand way outstrips supply from major governments. The days of “spending your way out of recession” are over and there is little prospect of a supply boost. Yields can only fall further.
Eastern Europe’s transformation, especially that of its financial sector, is unprecedented. Unsurprising then that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has made it the focus of its latest transition report.
Russia’s futures trading went mainstream in June after the Duma passed laws to make it a bona fide business. Ben Aris reports on how banks are gearing up to play in this as yet plain vanilla market.
Diana Dijmarescu: if the ECB considered beyond the single currency, the project would be more attractive
Target2-Securities, the European Central Bank’s controversial proposal to build a single settlement platform for euro-based securities, would split settlement from custody. Do the proposals go too far or not far enough, asks Frances Maguire.
Banks around the world have achieved record profits and profitability for almost four years in a row as steady economic growth, especially in Asia, globalisation and the awakening of consumer finance in new markets continue to stimulate financial institutions. While uncertainties exist, the relatively benign environment is creating a bonanza for banks.
The Banker Global Awards salute the practitioners of astute purchasing that has furthered their regional ambitions, as well as those banks that have offered exemplary service levels in the corporate and social fields.
UK-based Standard Chartered Bank is one of the world’s most international banks with a global network of 1200 branches in more than 50 countries. While not one of the world’s biggest banks, its 150 years of emerging market experience and focus on Asia, the Middle East and Africa has helped develop a well established presence in most of the world’s fastest-growing economies, including India and China.
Launched in 2005 and completed in the first quarter of this year, the acquisition of Italian BNL by Paris-based BNP Paribas is one of those deals Europe will remember for years to come.
Nobody knows how to do business in Asia better than Standard Chartered. The bank has continued to prove its entrepreneurship in emerging markets thanks to exemplary management policies and a motivated multicultural staff.
When HSBC announced its record-breaking $21bn pre-tax profit for 2005, it almost went unnoticed that the region that accounts for the smallest portion of the group’s bottom line was also the one that showed the strongest growth for the year.
Ahli United Bank’s (AUB) focused regional growth strategy, strong performance and recent strategic acquisitions in Kuwait, Iraq and Egypt make it the most prominent regional player in the Middle East over the past year or more.
With banks in nine countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Standard Chartered Bank has a formidable network that produced a number of strong performances in 2005. Of the continent’s 23 country awards, Standard Chartered managed to win a record five in Botswana, Cote D’Ivoire, The Gambia, Kenya and Sierra Leone.
Two factors have combined to give Citigroup the deserved title of Cash Management House of the Year 2006, according to Paul Galant, managing director and global head of the cash management business for global transaction services.
JPMorgan Securities Services was the clear winner for the prize of securities services house of the year. The American bank has demonstrated the value of a broad product range combined with successful delivery.
For Standard Chartered Bank, delivering a three-year total return on invested capital of 26% has been synergistically aligned with fostering sustainable, robust growth in emerging markets.
The Banker’s Bank of the Year country awards acknowledge banks for the best overall performance in their country. Our global editorial team choose the winners based on an assessment of the latest results and performance data provided by the banks plus their strategic developments and overall achievements.
Ukrsotsbank is expected to pass into the hands of Italy’s Banca Intesa next year. Chairman Boris Tymonkin talks to Yuri Bender about the benefits for both sides.
Macquarie’s aggressive global acquisition trail is being followed by other Australian niche specialists. However, there are concerns about risk management practices, Virginia Marsh reports from Sydney.
With its prized asset of Brazil’s Banco Real, ABN AMRO is staying focused on the country, aware of the huge potential in the mortgage market, capital markets and investment banking. Jules Stewart reports.
South Africa’s ‘big five’ lead The Banker’s Top 100 African banks listing while the impact of Nigeria’s new regulations on bank capitalisation has yet to filter through.
Kazuhiko Adachi, chairman of Intelligent Wave, talks to Dan Barnes about global financial crime, regulatory pressures and how technology can tackle these challenges.
In the ongoing battle to thwart fraudsters, biometrics are the new frontier and fingerprint recognition appears to be the strongest candidate for rolling out to customers now. By Joshua Weinberger.
Companies that focus on external criminals attempting to steal their intellectual property assets are looking in the wrong direction. More often, the culprits are inside the firewall. Kazuhiko Adachi explains how to guard against internal threats.
Jacqueline Guichelaar, general manager, technology operations, National Australia Group, tells Dan Barnes of the importance of marrying technology and business decision making.
As the Web 2.0 age dawns, banks must wake up to the fact that the successful companies of the future will not have customers, they will have participants, and that rather than having a business, they will have a community.By Chris Skinner.
Measures to open India’s banking market to global competition are under attack from foreign banks for being too slow, and from state bank employees for being too rapid and drastic. Michael Imeson reports.
Where once outsourcing was seen as a purely cost-cutting exercise, now process expertise, creativity and cultural fit are equally important during the selection process. Mark Davey explains.
Barry Dark, managing director of Fidelity National Information Services – central Europe, a provider of IT outsourcing in EMEA, including KORDOBA outsourcing in Germany
Barry Dark, managing director of Fidelity National Information Services – central Europe, answers questions about how financial services organisations should manage outsourcing partnerships.
ING assesses the myriad processes that make up the outsourcing agreement between its Application Delivery unit and Fidelity National Information Services.
