Asiamoney Best Bank Awards

Ping An OneConnect Bank is not an obvious choice for the award for best bank for small and medium-sized enterprises in Hong Kong. It only launched in September 2020, after receiving a virtual banking licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in May 2019. So it still has limited scale compared with traditional banks with a longer track record of operating in the city.

In January, local media buzzed with news of a partnership between Allied Bank, non-profit finance outfit Karandaaz Pakistan and tech firm Techlogix Mobility. The plan was to increase financial inclusion, one small and medium-sized enterprise at a time.

Gone are the days when DBS was considered just a Singapore bank or a southeast Asian leader. The firm has increasingly become a force to be reckoned with in Hong Kong too, where it has grown quickly in recent years and is set to become bigger. It is Asiamoney’s best international bank in Hong Kong in 2022.

Over the last century, Sanoat Qurilish Bank has had a front-row view of Uzbekistan’s economic zigs and zags. But it is the work the bank is doing to forge a greener future that put it in front to win our awards for best domestic bank and best for environmental, social and governance this year.

Citi, led by India chief executive Ashu Khullar, is one of the biggest foreign banks in India in terms of its balance sheet, deposits and profits. These are important measures, but the US bank also boasts a high-quality book and client portfolio, which proved a great advantage during the pandemic.

The changing of the guard at a systemically important Sri Lankan bank can be alarming even in the best of times. But throw a political and economic crisis into the mix and the situation becomes even more fraught.