Best Bank - Zagrebacka Banka
Best debt house - Bank Austria/HVB
Best equity house - RZB
Very little distinguishes Zagrebacka and Privredna Banka, the Croatian subsidiaries of UniCredito Italiano and KBC, respectively. Both are leaders in the debt market. Both lead managed Croatia's sovereign issue. Privredna leads in some areas, such as internet banking. It also has 20 more branches than Zagrebacka.
But Zagrebacka has the edge in wholesale banking. It is better in syndicated loans, equity trading and project finance. In the latter asset class, it was the domestic arranger on the BINA-Istra project, financing the Istra motorway with a e72 million loan that it arranged, and a e210 million Eurobond issue, lead managed by UBS and domestically led by Zagrebacka. This was the first dual-listed issue from Croatia, and had a maturity of 19 years. Zagrebacka has been a leader in its own financing too. It has signed a e270 million unsecured syndicated loan with Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan, priced at just 65 basis points over Euribor.
In ZB Invest, Zagrebacka also has a 53% market share of the fund management market. It can also be proud of its regional expansion in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where its subsidiary won the award for best bank.