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It seems perverse to hand out a best bank award down under given that a public inquiry into financial-sector misconduct has exposed widespread wrongdoing and poor governance.

When it comes to private banking in Thailand, two names stand head and shoulders above the competition: Credit Suisse and Phatra Securities, a member of Kiatnakin Phatra financial group. Both are leaders in the field. But while Phatra is known as the pioneer of Thailand’s onshore private wealth management service, Credit Suisse is a global bank that offers both onshore and offshore wealth management services to wealthy individuals, families and entrepreneurs, including a large percentage of the names on Forbes’ list of Thailand’s 50 richest people.

In Thailand’s fast-changing digital banking landscape, it is hard to stay ahead of the game. Still, under head of digital banking Tana Pothikamjorn, Siam Commercial Bank, the country’s oldest lender, has done precisely that. Building on the bank’s reputation as a disrupter, SCB was the first Thai commercial bank to scrap fees on digital transactions for money transfers and bill payments in March.

In a banking landscape divided between large domestic banks, large international banks and hybrids, Citi Thailand, under country head Darren Buckley, stands out as something a bit different. A truly global bank, it also boasts a large retail presence, made up of three full service branches and 32 Citi network branches that provide a complete range of consumer banking, credit card and foreign exchange services to over one million customers. Then there is Citi’s formidable network of corporate clients, ranging from multinationals and financial institutions to public sector and local conglomerates.

Thailand’s small and medium-sized enterprise sector was probably not the best business segment to be in over the past 12 months. Several high-profile companies struggled to service or repay their loans, leading to debt restructurings and write-offs at the banks. According to credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, the non-performing loan ratio for SMEs rose to 4.63% in 2017 from 4.4% in 2016, and exceeded the NPL ratio of 2.97% for total loans in the banking system.

This may well be the toughest award to win in Vietnam. Over the last decade, the government has focused its attention on the country’s army of small and medium-sized enterprises, reckoned by the Credit Information Centre to number 500,000. Banks are tacitly encouraged to lend to them and to offer preferential rates to borrowers.

Corporate and social responsibility is still a relatively new thing in Vietnam. Most banks channel a portion of their capital to worthy causes, but their limited resources are often spread thinly: many seeds are scattered in the hope that a few will grow. Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB), led by chief executive Nguyen Van Le and one of the country’s big-five privately owned lenders by assets, has opted for a more systematic approach to CSR. Over the past year, its ‘Love sharing’ and ‘Wings of faith’ programmes sent D5 billion ($215,000) worth of gifts (clothing, books, food) to the children of disadvantaged families, while also delivering invaluable leadership skills and lessons.

From Malaysia’s central bank to its largest commercial bank, women are at the helm — and they are actively working to promote the next crop of female leaders.

Nobuyuki Hirano’s MUFG is a powerhouse, achieving superlative after superlative: Japan’s biggest bank; its second-largest company (after Toyota); the world’s leading provider of project finance; etcetera etcetera. The list goes on and on.

MUFG & Morgan StanleyFrom muck comes brass, as the saying goes, and the MUFG-Morgan Stanley joint venture in Japan proves that axiom better than most.

From muck comes brass, as the saying goes, and the MUFG-Morgan Stanley joint venture in Japan proves that axiom better than most.

Few countries in Asia are as in need of an enlightened corporate culture as Cambodia, with its tragic history and lost generations.