If universal banking is the key to the future, ABN Amro seems to be perfecting the art as well as any of its rivals and better than most. That's why Euromoney decided to give this special award to the Dutch leader.
ABN Amro was ranked 14th in the world by shareholders' equity in the latest Euromoney Bank Atlas, up from 19th last year, and delivered one of the highest returns on equity in the top 15 banks. Net profits rose 26.3% from fls2,616 million ($1,348 million) in 1995 to fls3,303 million in 1996.
The bank is motoring on all fronts with a strong performance in its domestic market - which accounts for about half gross revenue - matched by increases in all the major regions where the bank operates.
The bank's strategy is to target top international companies and provide facilities for them cross-border and across products including payment services, treasury, lending and the issue of letters of credit as well as export and project finance, M&A, international advisory services and all capital-market instruments.
To this end, acquisitions are being made where the bank is confident that companies bought can make a contribution to earnings per share.