BEST BANK
Bank Keshavarzi
BEST DEBT HOUSE
Bank Saderat
Banks in Iran, all of which are Islamic, fall essentially into two groups – the large state banks which, in most cases, require substantial modernization and smaller more dynamic private sector ones.
It was a very close call between the banks, with several institutions showing impressive year-on-year asset growth. But the award goes to Bank Keshavarzi, which not only grew its assets significantly but also expanded net income by an impressive 70%.
Bank Saderat, the best debt house, broke new ground for an Iranian bank when its London operation, Bank Saderat plc, raised $120 million through a syndicated loan lead managed by Standard Bank.
The key to this transaction was that Saderat was the first Iranian bank to raise debt through the London capital markets. Originally it wanted to borrow $100 million but the initial offering was heavily oversubscribed and an amount in excess of the target was eventually raised.