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Best international Islamic bank
HSBC Amanah has been a regular winner of this award, but with its decision to step back from retail Islamic banking apart from a continuing presence in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, the way is clear for a new leader. Standard Chartered Saadiq is Euromoney’s choice.
Standard Chartered has long been a contender, even with HSBC fully in the picture. "By far the broader, more networked business" than its competitors’, says a rival bank. It’s that breadth of ability that sets the business apart, from syndication and sukuk to product development, private banking, wholesale, real estate and project finance. Six years on from its 2007 launch, Saadiq (which means ‘truthful’) is both global and impressively local, entrenched in its core markets and closely linked to regulators in many places where frameworks are still under development.
What makes an international leader? Scale is one thing. Saadiq combines structured finance and corporate/institutional banking services in 14 nations plus Africa with a respectable consumer banking presence in six: Bangladesh, Bahrain, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia (through its Permata Bank subsidiary) and the United Arab Emirates.