Philippines

Citi emerges as the unalloyed leader in this category – and for good reason. The US lender, which boasts 7,600 staff in the cities such as Manila, San Juan and Cebu, is as committed to the Philippines as ever, a permanent fixture on the banking scene, offering world-class financial services to consumers and corporates alike.

There is a clear winner in this category. Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has long been the best financial institution for corporates, banking the country’s largest firms, as well as many foreign multinationals. Well run, focused and steady – underlined by the fact that the current chief executive, Cezar Consing, in office since 2013, is only the 13th person to run the bank in its 162-year history – BPI is the epitome of stability in an often-turbulent world.

BDO Unibank, under chief executive Nestor Tan, has always been ahead of the curve. It was the first big Philippines lender to extend opening hours beyond the previous 3pm cut-off time, bringing banking to evening commuters and weekend shoppers. It was a pioneer in private banking and asset management, with a sprawling network of branches that includes 26 remittance and representative offices across Asia, the Middle East and Europe. And it’s a bank always willing to peer a little further down the line: witness its acquisition, completed in 2015, of One Network Bank, the country’s fastest-growing rural lender, with 105 branches in poorer regions, where per-capita income and the need for financial services are expanding rapidly.