Global Financial Intelligence Since 1926
In November the ceremony was held for The Banker Awards 2006 at The Dorchester Hotel in London. This year we gave awards in 137 countries and more than 100 countries were represented on the night.
Standard Chartered Bank
Seyhan Pencapligil
BANKA KOMBETARE TREGTARE
In the five years since it was privatised in late 2000, Banka Kombetare Tregtare (BKT) has produced a healthy average return on equity (RoE) of 27%, with a strong showing of 29% in 2005 and 40% in early 2006.
Jorge Horacio Brito
Banco Macro
Banco Macro managed to steer its way out of the 2001/02 Argentine crisis through a programme of strict cost control and improvement of efficiency, as well as a carefully managed integration of its acquisitions.
Stepan Gishyan
ACBA Bank
In 2005, ACBA Bank significantly expanded its scope of activities, adding new areas of international trade finance, instant money transfers and debit and credit cards.
David Morgan
Westpac Banking Corporation
Westpac has launched a series of impressive initiatives while continuing to purse organic growth in its home market.
Walter Rothensteiner
Raiffeisen Zentralbank
Good performance and successful acquisitions have secured Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) this year’s award as best bank in Austria.In particular, the acquisition of Bank Aval increased the Austrian bank’s reach in the Ukraine market, and the takeover of Russian Impexbank added 500 new banking outlets to Raiffeisen’s strong presence in the region.
THE INTERNATIONAL BANK OF AZERBAIJAN
Sharon Brown
FirstCaribbean International bank (Bahamas)
FirstCaribbean Bahamas has achieved a significant improvement in return to shareholders by focusing on its customers, costs and management controls. It has expanded its service offerings and restructured some of its key business units to service its customers more effectively.
Adel El-Labban
AHLI UNITED BANK
Ahli United Bank (AUB) has continued its strategy of regional expansion in the pan-Gulf and Middle East region and, through acquisitions and integration in Bahrain, has produced record levels of growth in both net profits and assets in 2005 as well as improved profitability.
Aminur Rahman
Janata Bank
Janata Bank’s focus on SMEs resulted in a series of initiatives aimed at providing financial support to industrial and agricultural sectors, and broadly at bolstering socio-economic development.
Robert Le Hunte
Barbados National Bank
In the face of increasing competition and rising cost of funds, Barbados National Bank (BNB) again increased profits, becoming the most profitable bank in Barbados.
Nadezhda Yemakova
Belarusbank
Belarusbank is the largest state-owned universal bank in the Republic of Belarus. In the past year or more, it has introduced a number of new products in both retail and corporate that helped to double profits in 2005 and significantly expand its asset base.
Jean-Paul Votron
Fortis
Financial performance and expansion ambitions have brought Fortis a very successful year, achieved through organic growth and targeted acquisitions.
Bank of Africa
Alan Thompson
Butterfield Bank
Butterfield Bank has maintained a forward-looking focus and subjected its business strategy to continuous and rigorous review. It remains committed to providing consistent and superior returns to its shareholders.
Gianfranco Ferrari
Banco de Crédito de Bolivia
Banco de Crédito de Bolivia’s (BCP) 2005 performance confirmed its position as the strongest player in the Bolivian market.
UNICREDIT ZAGREBACKA BANKA
Standard Chartered Bank
Márcio Cypriano
Bradesco
Bradesco has a structured strategy of maximising shareholder value and implementing the best corporate governance practices.
Pierre Imhof
Baiduri Bank Berhad
With good profits, improved RoE and a broader product portfolio, Baiduri Bank Berhad is The Banker’s choice in Brunei.
Momtchil Andreev
RAIFFEISENBANK (BULGARIA)
In 2005, Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria continued to achieve very strong results and compete effectively in all areas.
Ecobank
Dean Cleland
ANZ Royal
Recently established, ANZ Royal has been investing in building its network infrastructure and technology, with the aim of developing Cambodia’s banking market and reaching potential customers new to the financial world.
Rick Waugh
Scotiabank
Scotiabank’s has demonstrated its capacity to be the best Canadian-based international financial services company. To help meet this goal, the bank has developed three key priorities: sustainable revenue growth, strategic acquisitions, and effective capital management and allocation.
Conor O’Dea
Butterfield Bank (Cayman)
Butterfield Bank (Cayman) turned in an outstanding performance in 2005, with solid increases in fee-based and interest-based incomes, while keeping costs contained within budget.
Mauricio Larráin
Banco Santander Santiago
Last year was a period of intense activity for Banco Santander Santiago, with the focus on spearheading bank penetration to all levels of the population.
ICBC
Jorge Saldarriaga
Bancolombia
As the country’s largest bank, Bancolombia has built up a 22% overall market share without sacrificing its ability to provide a flexible service to its customers.
Luis Liberman
Banco Interfin
Banco Interfin’s five-year strategic plan is paying dividends. Last year, the bank boosted net profits by a record 33.9% to $21.5m, while RoE rose from 17.94% to 21.72%.
Standard Chartered Bank Cote d’Ivoire
Zdenko Adroviae
RAIFFEISENBANK AUSTRIA
Raiffeisenbank Austria outperformed its competitors in Croatia, producing a 65.9% growth in net profits in 2005, a 20% RoE and a significant reduction in cost/income ratio to 50.5%.
Marcos A Díaz
Banco Internacional de Comercio
“The results and performance of Banco International de Comercio last year and in 2006 are in correspondence with the invigorating trend in the national economy, and proof that the bank’s policies are in tune with the needs of the different sectors and the general guidelines implemented in the country,” says chairman Marcos A Díaz.
LAIKI GROUP
Pavel Kavánek
CESKOSLOVENSKA OBCHODNI BANKA
The largest bank in the Czech Republic (in asset terms) has maintained its leading market position along with achieving strong 49.7% growth in net profits and 20% balance sheet expansion.
Danske Bank
Daniel Toribio Marmolejos
Banco de Reservas de la República Dominicana
Last year, Banco de Reservas de la República Dominicana (Banreservas) was the only financial institution in the Dominican Republic to reach the Dp$100bn ($2.9bn) asset milestone and Dp$2bn in net income, achieving one of the highest growth and profitability rates in the country.
Banco Bolivariano
Hassan Abdalla
ARAB AFRICAN INTERNATIONAL BANK
As well as acquiring Misr American International Bank in May 2005, the first acquisition among Egypt’s private banks, Arab African International Bank (AAIB) produced a list of outstanding results that outperformed the market.
Mauricio Samayoa
Banco Cuscatlán
Banco Cuscatlán has built itself into a universal bank with a profitable international footprint.
Priit Põldoja
HANSABANK
In an environment of tight competition, Hansabank has maintained strong profitability, posting a RoE of 45.7% in 2005, and has strengthened position in fast-growing product areas, such as consumer finance and pensions.
Dashen Bank
Antti Tanskanen
OP Bank Group
OP Bank Group had a fantastic year, with increasing profits and an acquisition that has enhanced the bank’s growth potential significantly.
Daniel Bouton
Société Générale
With its fantastic financial results and its targeted acquisition campaign, Société Générale (SG) once again leads the French market.
Standard Chartered Bank Gambia
Lado Gurgenidze
BANK OF GEORGIA
Since October 2004, when its new management team embarked on a turnaround path, Bank of Georgia has established itself as an innovator and consolidator in the Georgian financial markets.
Klaus-Peter Müller
Commerzbank
After a tumultuous recent past, this year Commerzbank has achieved extraordinary financial results, growing profits by 187%, almost doubling RoE to 16.8% and decreasing cost/income ratio.
International Commercial Bank
Takis Arapoglou
National Bank of Greece
National Bank of Greece (NBG) has achieved impressive results in the past year, both in terms of profitability and expansion in the home market and abroad.
Diego Pulido Aragon
Banco Industrial
Banco Industrial is confident that long-term shareholder value will come from having a leading institution with a dominant position in the market.
Seshagiri Rao
International Commercial Bank
It was another bumper year for International Commercial Bank in Guinea, with profits up 72% in 2005 to GFr3.5bn ($818,000).
Banco Financiera Comercial
Vincent Cheng
HSBC
Amid fierce competition, HSBC remained the most profitable bank in Hong Kong and maintained and grew its market share across key product segments while launching a variety of wealth management offerings.
Sándor Csányi
OTP BANK
Continuing growth in net profits of 20.3% and another year of outstanding profitability with RoE at 32.3% contributed to another landmark year in 2005 for OTP Bank.
Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson
Kaupthing Bank
For the past three years, Kaupthing Bank has impressed The Banker’s judges with its record profit growth, which reached its highest in 2005 and tripled from the previous year.
K V Kamath
ICICI bank
ICICI Bank has focused strongly on innovation and technology, providing niche products and services through electronic channels supported by a robust infrastructure.
PT BANK CENTRAL ASIA TBK
Seyyed Hassan Noorbakhsh
BANK KESHAVARZI
Continuing the trend of recent years, Bank Keshavarzi has maintained strong growth in profits and balance sheet while achieving a reduced but healthy RoE of 16.4%.
Brian J Goggin
Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland (BoI) started the past year with clear objectives on how to improve performance and maintain shareholders’ return.
BANK HAPOALIM
Corrado Passera
Banca Intesa
With great financial results and a proposed merger that would create Italy’s biggest bank, Banca Intesa is the country’s Bank of the Year 2006.
Milton Brady
FirstCaribbean International Bank
“The business has seen a significant resurgence in the past year, and the group is making its presence felt and contributing to an overall strong performance by our parent bank,” says managing director Milton Brady.
Terunobu Maeda
Mizuho Financial Group
Mizuho Financial Group has increased its profitability and improved the soundness of its financial position. It reinforced its leading position in syndicated loans while also developing its retail and asset and wealth management businesses.
Abdel Karim Kabariti
JORDAN KUWAIT BANK
In terms of growth and profitability, 2005 was a landmark year for Jordan Kuwait Bank (JKB). In an unprecedented performance, the bank produced 41.8% growth in net profits to $55.4m while assets rose by 59% to almost $2bn.
Nina Zhussupova
KAZKOMMERTSBANK
Kazkommertsbank had an outstanding year in 2005, following flat results in 2004.
Standard Chartered Bank Kenya
Ibrahim Dabdoub
NATIONAL BANK OF KUWAIT
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the largest bank in Kuwait and highest-rated bank in the Middle East, continued to dominate its home market, generating a record increase in profits and expanding its client base across all consumer segments, private banking customers and prominent corporates.
Mikhail Nadel
ASIAUNIVERSALBANK
The Kyrgyz Republic’s largest bank, AsiaUniversalBank (AUB) continued to build its asset base and in 2005 produced record profits, with net profits rising by 70%, and achieving an improved RoE of 10.3%.
Valery Kargin
PAREX BANKA
Positive results and initiatives marked 2005 for Parex. Net profits doubled to reach another record high and RoE strengthened to 19.6% from 12.1% the previous year.
Saad Azhari
Blom Bank
In the highly competitive Lebanese banking market, Blom Bank not only provided excellent performance figures in 2005 but also strengthened its presence in the region with the important acquisition in Egypt of Misr Romanian Bank.
Standard Bank
Raimondas Baranauskas
Bankas Snoras
With the largest customer service network in Lithuania, 10 regional branches, 212 minibanks and 307 ATMs, Bankas Snoras is strengthening its leading role in retail banking. With net profits almost doubling in 2005, plus a 70.5% increase in assets and a RoE of up to 17.7%, Snoras is performing well, especially in retail, where it has more than 790,000 clients.
Jean-Claude Finck
Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat
Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat (BCEE) has achieved significant growth in earnings thanks to the performance of its retail banking, asset management and international market activities.
Patrick Huen
Seng Heng Bank
Seng Heng Bank has accompanied its clear international strategy for growth with fantastic financial performance. Seng Heng has also focused on containing costs by mapping and consolidating its key business processes in a processing centre.
Gjorgji Jancevski
NLB Tutunska Banka
In 2005, NLB Tutunska Banka significantly improved results and achieved its performance goals. It not only increased net profits by 34%, but also boosted market share to 16% by net assets, 19.5% by loans to the non-financial sector and 12.8% by deposits.
Alain Lepatre-Lamontagne
Bank of Africa
2005 was another turbulent year for the Malagasy economy. Gross domestic product growth of 4.6% was recorded, with exports recovering and improved performance in the manufacturing, construction and tourism sectors.
Stanbic Bank
Dato’ Nazir Razak
CIMB Group
The transformation from an investment bank to a universal player is exciting and challenging, especially if the target timeframe in which to achieve it is five years.
Ecobank
Tonio Depasquale
Bank of Valletta
Amid stiff competition, Malta’s largest bank produced improved results in 2005 with a 35.4% increase in net profits and a rise in RoE to a record 19.1% from 15.1% the previous year.
Phillip Dawe
HSBC
HSBC continues to shake up the local banking scene in Mauritius, most recently establishing a wholly owned, locally incorporated subsidiary HSBC Bank (Mauritius).
Luis Peña
Banorte
“Over the past year, the bank has been actively innovating its product offering, providing high quality service to its clients and strengthening its competitive position,” says CEO Luis Peña.
Victoriabank
J Peter Morrow
Khan Bank
Khan Bank’s excellent financial performance was achieved through the re-engineering of the asset and liability structure, which lowered liability cost and enhanced earning asset base, and resulted in an acceleration of the bank’s net interest margin and earnings power.
Othman Benjelloun
BMCE Bank
Morocco’s third largest bank continued to implement its network expansion programme and structural changes, which have maintained healthy growth in profits and key areas.
Millennium bim
Standard Bank
Everest Bank
Jan Peter Schmittman
ABN AMRO
ABN AMRO’s persistence and a good deal proposition allowed it to complete Banca Antonveneta’s takeover, reaching into the savings-rich market of north-eastern Italy.
Hugh Burrett
ASB Bank
For the fifth consecutive year, ASB Bank has impressed the judges with great financial performance fuelled by a combination of distribution channel developments, innovative products, good service delivery and retention of a highly engaged team.
Banco de la Producción
Oceanic Bank
Svein Aaser
DnB NOR
DnB NOR showed good profit growth, an increased RoE and improved capital strength. In the past year, it completed the merger between its original entities, DnB Holding and Gjensidige NOR, which began in 2003 and involved one million customers and two million accounts.
National Bank of Oman
Allied Bank
Osvaldo F Moyunes
Banco Continental
“For us this award is a recognition of our financial strength as well as the continued growth in the value of our franchise demonstrated by the excellent results obtained in 2005 in terms of profitability, capitalisation and asset quality,” says Osvaldo F Moyunes, CEO of Banco Continental.
Euclides Ribeiro
ABN Amro Paraguay
ABN AMRO’s Paraguay operations had a highly successful year, with a 29.51% improvement in Tier 1 capital, along with a boost in RoE from 27.64% to 33.81% and an impressive 51.12% leap in net profits.
Raimundo Morales
Banco de Crédito del Perú
BCP has been the leader of the Peruvian financial system for the past 117 years. The group has developed into a universal bank, providing a full range of financial services in Peru and internationally.
Aurelio R Montinola III
Bank of the Philippine Islands
Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has once again demonstrated it is the leader in its domestic market with great profit growth and successful expansion strategies.
Slawomir Lachowski
BRE BANK
After unsatisfactory results between 2002 and 2004, BRE Bank, under new management and with a new strategy, achieved a dramatic improvement in results in 2005.
António Horta Osório
Banco Santander Totta
Using its low cost/income ratio, the lowest in the country, Banco Santander Totta has been able to market competitive products in targeted segments.
José R González
Santander BanCorp
Santander BanCorp has taken two crucial initiatives to improve shareholder return. First, it has maintained a sharp focus on profitability, achieved through an emphasis on client-derived business and the acquisition of Island Finance, a leading consumer finance company in Puerto Rico.
Doha Bank
Patrick Gelin
BRD – Groupe Société Générale
The second largest bank in Romania with a market share varying between 15% and 23%, BRD has undergone a deep internal reorganisation, working to Société Générale norms, and achieved a significantly improved set of results in 2005.
Alexander Popov
Rosbank
With the consolidation of the OVK banking group in 2004-05, Rosbank has been transformed from a large wholesale financial institution into a large universal bank with a special focus on retail.
Banque Commerciale du Rwanda
Sheikh Sulaiman Al Rajhi
Al Rajhi Bank
Al Rajhi, the largest Islamic bank in the world, had an outstanding year in 2005, not only with significant financial achievements, but also with developments outside Saudi Arabia.
Oliver Rogl
Raiffeisen banka
In 2005, Raiffeisen banka continued to strengthen its leading position, recording a high market share of between 15% and 20% in all key business categories, and achieving a 33.6% growth in net profits as well as a healthy 30.6% RoE.
Lamin Manjang
Standard Chartered Bank Sierra Leone
Despite a presence in Sierra Leone dating back more than 100 years, Standard Chartered was almost back to square one when the civil war was officially declared over in 2002.
David Conner
OCBC Bank
OCBC Bank does not lack ambition: as part of its expansion strategy, last year it increased its stake in leading Singaporean and Malaysian insurance group GEH from 49% to 83%, and launched an offer earlier this year for the remaining shares.
Tomas Spurny
VUB Banka
VUB banka maintained its highly profitable course, showing a 33.8% increase in net profits in 2005 and a strong 18.7% RoE. The bank regards itself as the most cost-efficient bank in the market, reducing its cost/income ratio to 58.8%.
Marjan Kramar
Nova Ljubljanska banka
Nova Ljubljanska banka has continued to consolidate its position as Slovenia’s largest international financial group and, with strong results and acquisitions, has become a considerable force in the region.
Tom Boardman
Nedbank
The numbers speak for themselves. Nedbank, South Africa’s fourth largest bank, has been turned around. After plunging to a R1.3bn ($180m) loss in 2003, the group reported a R4.3bn profit in 2005.
Kang Chung Won
Kookmin Bank
Kookmin Bank increased its net income by almost 5.5 times from the previous year, when it was just turning its books to black.
Enrique Garcia Candelas
Grupo Santander
With a strong international presence and phenomenal profit growth, Grupo Santander is once again The Banker’s choice in Spain. Its integration of recently purchased Abbey and its IT system is a success story in its own right.
R Theagarajah
Hatton National Bank
Last year proved highly successful for Hatton National Bank (HNB). Its net income grew by almost 70% while RoE rose to more than 16%.
Standard Bank
Jan Lidéns
Swedbank
The successful implementation of Swedbank’s expansion plans internationally and the reinforcement of its domestic presence has increased profitability and its potential to grow.
Alain Robert
UBS
The past year has proved particularly profitable for UBS’s shareholders. The bank achieved a 39.4% RoE and distributed a total pay-out of SFr3.80 ($3) per share, including a repayment that allowed shareholders to benefit from the gain from the sale of UBS’s private banks and GAM business.
Chin-Yun Wu
First Commercial Bank
While other market players were struggling to meet past performance, First Commercial Bank successfully increased its profitability in a particularly challenging year.
Barclays
Chartsiri Sophonpanich
Bangkok Bank
It was not just its good profit growth nor its strong presence in corporate, commercial and SME banking that made Bangkok Bank stand out in Thailand.
David Dulal-Whiteway
Republic Bank
Republic Bank considers customer service and employee satisfaction integral components in ensuring consistent shareholder value.
Zafer Kurtul
Akbank
Following a decline in 2004, Akbank produced a strong 45% growth in net profits in 2005 making it Turkey’s most profitable private sector bank and largest lending bank.
State Bank For Foreign Economic Affairs Of Turkmenistan
Crane Bank
Prof VP Matvienko
Prominvestbank
Prominvestbank’s strategy in 2005 resulted in significant growth in net profits of 71.9% to $62.4m and a significant increase in profitability, with RoE rising to 22.6% from 16.2% the previous year.
Saad Abdul Razak
Dubai Islamic Bank
Dubai Islamic Bank has achieved extraordinary growth in 2005 through its global leadership role in Islamic debt capital markets and its ability to cross new frontiers in Islamic corporate finance and to launch a range of innovative retail products and services.
Dyfrig John
HSBC
Remaining at the top is not easy, and improving from that position requires great skills. Furthermore, the quest for world domination could easily detach the conqueror from its home bases.
Kenneth D Lewis
Bank of America
In 2005, Bank of America (BoA) improved shareholder return through a number of initiatives. The highlights include accelerating growth by attracting, retaining and deepening more customer relationships.
Nuevo Banco Comercial
Kamol Mukhamedjanov
Bank Credit-Standard
Established in 2003, Bank Credit-Standard has expanded dramatically into its position as a leading privately owned commercial bank in Uzbekistan.
Gustavo Marturet
Banco Mercantil
Banco Mercantil has been constantly monitoring changes in the financial spread and taking necessary action, which in some cases entailed limiting the product offering to ensure optimum profitability.
Bui Thi Mai
Habubank
Three-digit profit grow in the previous year is a hard act to follow, but Habubank still managed to outperform many of its competitors and achieved an inspiring 70% increase in net profits in 2005.
Abdulrahman M Al-Kohali
National Bank of Yemen
The largest bank in Yemen, the National Bank of Yemen (NBY) produced outstanding figures for 2005 with an impressive 48.9% growth in net income and a high RoE, rising to 24.9% from 20.9% the previous year.
Barclays
Stanbic Bank
