Australia I China I Hong Kong I India I Indonesia I Japan I Malaysia I Mongolia I Pakistan I Philippines I Singapore I Taiwan I Thailand Public Bank is the best bank in Malaysia by some distance and with the government seemingly bent on removing all other viable competitors save monolithic government-linked institutions, it might remain the only credible candidate for years to come.

Bahrain I Egypt I Iran I Israel I Jordan I Kuwait I Lebanon I Morocco I Oman I Qatar I Saudi Arabia I United Arab Emirates I Lifetime Achievement Competition in the UAE is among the toughest in the region and getting the decisions right, particularly in the retail market, is, as many banks have found, far from easy.

Azerbaijan I Kazakhstan I Kyrgyzstan I Uzbekistan Uzbekistan’s banking sector is getting into ever deeper trouble as president Islam Karimov’s increasingly repressive policies close the country off from international trade and drive the economy into crisis. Despite this, Ansher Capital still manages to survive and thrive as Uzbekistan’s leading investment bank. In the past 12 months, it managed to attract the first foreign investors into an Uzbek corporate bond. It is also looking to do a listing in the next year on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The recent sale of the first Islamic compliant securitization originated in the US is likely to open up a new source for the sukuk market, bankers believe.

Ever since Kuwait amended its banking legislation in early 2004 to license foreign banks, outside players have continued to show confidence in a high-potential market.

The Kazakh bank has embraced new currencies and structures.

The International Finance Corporation is only a small part of the World Bank organization, with a modest annual financing requirement. But it does pioneering work in developing local bond markets and its own benchmark dollar deals are of high quality.

Saudi petrochemicals company Sabic will issue domestic sukuk bonds with a total value of at least SR1 billion ($267 million), according to the company’s financial vice-president, Mutlaq al-Morished. The bond should be finalized this month or next, with huge demand expected from the paper-hungry local market.

BMA chief confident about region’s fundamentals.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded its rating for the Islamic Republic of Iran from BB– to B+, to take account of what it calls the “escalating confrontation between Iran and the international community over Iran’s nuclear programme.” Although it contends that material sanctions are still some way off, it argues that the risk is increasing and events “are becoming increasingly unpredictable”. The agency acknowledges, though, that with high oil prices Iran’s external financial position remains strong.

International banks have been encouraged to re-enter the Saudi project finance market with big-ticket deals backed by a relatively healthy risk environment and more solid financial guarantees than in the past. Nigel Dudley reports.

The central Asian republic may still be developing suitable funding channels, but a pick-up in deals is expected, given an economy that continues to grow and an appropriate legal framework. Patrick Gill reports.

Although the oil-rich emirate does not need other people’s money to finance big-ticket projects, it has shown an increasing appetite for project finance, reports Mark Ford in Abu Dhabi.

Supply of both Islamic-compliant and conventional instruments has so far failed to keep up with the voracious levels of demand across the Middle East, but there are signs that product-starved investors might now begin to see a steadier flow, though far-reaching challenges remain. Kathryn Wells reports.

Citigroup’s CEEMEA banks have executed a number of successful transactions in recent years, including several for Polish telecom TPSA. The bank is well positioned in the increasingly important area of Islamic finance. The one area where Citigroup’s CEEMEA banks seek improvement is in the equity markets. Shirish Apte, chief executive for CEEMEA, Citigroup, speaks with Sudip Roy about their plans for the future.

The Iranian authorities’ recent granting of operating licences to two new private banks (Bank Sarmaye Daneshgah and Bank Pasargeda) suggests that the sector has a future, despite president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s apparent disdain for his predecessor’s reformist agenda.

Dollar bond with enhanced curve is a sign of bigger things to come.

A hostile bid in the Malaysian banking market is almost unheard of. But CIMB's pursuit of Southern Bank has provoked more than just headlines, and now almost every major banking group in the country is in play.

First-of-a-kind deal exploits strong interest in regional IPOs.

UK

Vanilla deals fell out of favour in equity-linked issuance in 2005, with highly complex, structured transactions building unprecedented dominance. Despite higher volatility levels than in 2005 and a very promising M&A outlook, this trend is likely to continue in 2006. Peter Koh reports.

Although Asad Zafar, managing director of HSBC Amanah, stresses that the bank’s activities are wider than just project financing, its activities in this field were remarkable in the 11 months from December 2004 to November 2005.

Although Takaful Malaysia remains a major player in the field of shariah-compliant insurance, offering some 117 types of general takaful schemes, it is primarily focused on southeast Asia. In contrast, the winner of this year’s award, HSBC Amanah, has a global reach. It now offers general takaful products to both its retail and corporate clients in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK, via a combination of its own manufacturing capability and white labelling. The general takaful offering was only initiated in late 2004, however, meaning that volumes are still small.

The Cagamas R$2.05 billion ($542.5 million) Islamic residential mortgage backed sukuk (IRMBS) Musharakah, the world’s first rated IRMBS, brought a new asset class to Islamic finance. Cagamas MBS Berhad (CMBS), a single purpose and wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s national mortgage corporation, appointed CIMB, HSBC Amanah, ABN Amro and AmMerchant as joint lead managers for the August 2005 deal.

HSBC Amanah remains the undisputed regional heavyweight, but the 2006 award has gone to Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), ahead of HSBC and last year’s winner National Commercial Bank. DIB’s list of achievements is extensive, particularly its project financing and sukuk work (see best sukuk house). According to Aref Kooheji, executive vice-president of investment and corporate banking, as the world’s first Islamic bank – it opened in 1975 – DIB has been able to capitalize on its long experience and has become involved in providing innovative structural financing solutions for a number of large projects and institutions in the GCC region and elsewhere.

This year’s winner is Denton Wilde Sapte, while 2005’s winner, Norton Rose, came a close second. Denton Wilde Sapte has dedicated Islamic finance teams in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and London, and its client list includes ABC Islamic, ABN Amro, ADIB, Amlak Finance, BarCap, DIB, DB, GIB, HSBC Amanah, KFH, Standard Chartered, Standard Bank, WestLB and Shamil Bank.

Saudi Arabia’s Bank Al Jazira dominates the field of life takaful in terms of both volume and innovation, and helped to develop the Saudi insurance market following the introduction of new insurance legislation. The bank beat Munich-based financial services company FWU Group to take the top spot in this category.

Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and RBS finance the UK pub party.

Deutsche Bank wins this award on the basis of innovation, the experience of its Islamic finance team, the breadth of its product range, and the frequency with which it advises other Islamic institutions or deals.