Best bank HongKongBank
Cynics said HongkongBank would suffer as the handover of Hong Kong to China approached. But the Hong Kong market's confidence in its listed parent, HSBC Holdings, argues otherwise. In the May rally, HSBC led the charge and reached a new high of HK$224 (US$29) per share.
HongKongBank makes more money in the region than anyone else US$790 million in non-Hong Kong Asia, US$3.15 billion for Asia as a whole. It has assets in non-Hong Kong Asia of US$47 billion and 230 offices in 19 countries. As a Goldman Sachs research report puts it, it has a "gem of a network that would now be close to impossible to replicate".
The bank has long been a leader in trade finance and custody services. For example, it is sub-custodian for 66% of foreign institutional investment flows in India. And its corporate relationships are impeccable as is illustrated by its top position as Asian issuers arranger in the syndicated-loan market. Between January and May it arranged 23 loans worth $1.42 billion. In response to Citibank's successful drive in personal banking and credit cards, HongkongBank has also reorganized its reporting lines to replicate some of Citi's success in offering standard (though high-margin) products Powervantage and Assetvantage in its case.