Central and Eastern Europe regional awards
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Best Bank: Privredna Banka Zagreb |
The annual duel between Privredna Banka Zagreb and Zagrebacka Banka for Euromoney’s best bank award remains as fiercely contested as ever, with PBZ just shading the competition this year thanks to its successes in a number of fast-growing product areas such as credit cards and electronic banking. The bank’s credit card arm PBZ Card, for example, has now issued more than 2 million cards and is the clear market leader in the country. It is also the biggest lender in Croatia, being a mandated lead arranger for 90% of all the syndicated loan transactions in 2006. Both Raiffeisenbank Austria and Hrvatska Postanka Bank deserve a mention in dispatches, however, with both banks capturing increased market shares across the retail, corporate and investment banking markets.
On the debt front, InterCapital clearly demonstrates that investment banking boutiques have a bright future in Croatia, with the firm having established a leading role in the country’s fixed-income markets, both in terms of secondary market trading volumes and primary market origination.