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| Best bank: Wells Fargo |
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| Also shortlisted: BNP Paribas and UBS |
For this year’s shortlist for best global bank, Euromoney focused on two key criteria: banks that are well run, and banks that know their strengths and stick to them.
‘Well run’ is not a phrase that has often been used about UBS over the past decade. But the new management team, under CEO Sergio Ermotti, has taken more tough strategic decisions than perhaps any other, and to date implemented them very successfully. They deserve credit for creating a new UBS, even if the jury remains out on whether or not its wealth management-centric business can turn out high-teen returns on equity with a Swiss capital finish.
BNP Paribas is the very epitome of a well-managed bank that focuses on what it is good at doing. These core competencies include retail banking, in Europe and in the US, and best-in-class firm-wide risk management. The task now for CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé is to deliver growth to shareholders, especially through its corporate and investment bank in the US and Asia.