Asiamoney Best Bank Awards

Small and medium-sized enterprises are often described as Indonesia’s growth engines. But they also took one of the biggest beatings during the pandemic as lockdowns and disruptions in supply chains impacted their operations.

Bank Rakyat has been playing a significant role in the area of ESG in Indonesia, using its reach and credentials to help the natural resources and coal-reliant country adopt better practices.

UOB Indonesia’s initiatives concerning art take its corporate social responsibility agenda to a whole new level.

Hong Leong Bank has come a long way since it received its operating licence for Cambodia in August 2013, becoming the newest Malaysian bank to enter the country. Already it has made clear its ambitions and plans for growth in the country.

Fifty years of building repeat business relationships with local firms – whether energy company PTT Group, conglomerates such as Charoen Pokphand Group, Bank of Ayudhya, transport outfit BTS Group Holdings and Bangkok Dusit Medical Service – can pay off in times of market turbulence. That was the case with Kiatnakin Phatra Securities over the past year, but it takes the best investment bank award for 2022 for going a step further when it comes to helping clients.

HSBC’s Singapore franchise has really come into its own in the past few years, signalling to rivals that it’s no longer a Greater China one-trick pony, but a bank with a broad geographical footprint, including a booming Singapore and southeast Asia business.

In an era when most investment banks scramble to help small and medium-sized enterprises repair past damage, CIMB deserves kudos for looking ahead to where Malaysia Inc hopes to go.

Deutsche Bank is as good as a local lender given it has been in Indonesia for more than 50 years. Its commitment to the southeast Asian nation is reflected in its strong presence with more than 300 employees working across its key business pillars – foreign exchange and bond trading, investment banking, custody services, trade finance and cash management.

In an age when banks everywhere are playing catch-up with ESG principles, Maybank’s longstanding commitment to diversity in its ranks is winning important shoutouts. Although there are other measures, Bloomberg’s GEI carries real weight in the industry because of its place at the nexus of financial data and reporting.