Best Bank:
Citigroup
Best Debt House:
Citigroup / Salomon Smith Barney
Best Equity House:
Merrill Lynch
Best M&A House:
Goldman Sachs
Best Transaction Services:
Citigroup
Best Risk Management and Treasury:
HSBC
| Stephen Long | ||||||
Citigroup takes the award for best bank in Asia for the second consecutive year. Since taking the award last year no bank has been able to keep pace with its rapid development across the region.
Across all markets, with the exception of Hong Kong, it is the leading retail and commercial foreign bank. When Salomon Smith Barney was added to the equation, bringing with it its investment banking expertise, its product range and distribution went from strength to strength. While many of the domestic banks still struggle with internal problems and market consolidation, Citigroup kept rolling out new products becoming further embedded in the markets.