Best bank
Citigroup
This is the fifth consecutive year that Citigroup has won this award. And this year it has pulled away further from its rivals, particularly with the acquisition of Koram Bank in Korea, a deal that makes Citigroup the country?s fourth-largest bank. The Koram deal demonstrated the power at Citigroup?s disposal when making acquisitions, and underscores its ambitions in the region, which already accounts for 14% of its total earnings.
Citigroup has the only meaningful financial supermarket business model. Its nearest rival in Asia, HSBC, competes closely with it in many businesses, but is restricted by its continued weakness in equities. By contrast, as it likes to boast, Citigroup offers more products to more clients in more markets in Asia than any other bank. The group is a leader in retail and corporate transactional banking, foreign exchange, debt products, and cash and securities management.
Its equities business, while not as strong as some other banks?, has improved significantly, as shown by its successful execution of the China Life IPO. Citigroup regularly takes on and defeats local banks in each market.
But the group is not without its challenges.