There are two main banks in El Salvador - Banco Cuscatlán and Banco Agrícola. Of the two, Agrícola is the larger, but is also duller. Its return on equity is lower, and it has shown little desire to grow. Safety is no bad thing in Latin America, of course, but Banco Cuscatlán wins the best bank award this year because of its ability to expand throughout central America, which itself helps to diversify risks.
As for bond issues, El Salvador last year hit upon the innovative idea of mandating four different bond issues at once, rather than awarding them one by one on an ad-hoc basis. That would lower the fees it was charged, and save everybody a lot of hassle.
Citigroup came up with the lowest bid, just under 20 basis points. But the bid was matched by CSFB , and the two were joint leads on four bonds from April 2002 to February 2003.
CSFB wins the best debt house award because it is clearly committed to the country. It is the only bank to have participated in every El Salvador transaction since 2001.