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 As always the competition to be best bank in Lebanon is extremely fierce. Bank Audi has again performed exceptionally well but by the narrowest of margins it is this year just beaten by Bank Blom.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

BMA chief confident about region’s fundamentals.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Euromoney reports on the innovations driving the market forward, and profiles the winners of latest Islamic finance awards.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There is little to choose between the two Malaysian Islamic banking leaders, CIMB Islamic and AmMerchant, but CIMB comes out on top for the second year running because of the breadth and volume of its Islamic finance activities. CIMB Islamic is a bank within a bank and is responsible for CIMB Group’s Islamic finance business onshore and off. CIMB Islamic’s focus is on Islamic debt and equity capital markets, private equity, private banking, asset and fund management, and corporate finance. The bank’s head, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, says the key to its success is the quality of its staff.

The contest between DIB and CIMB Islamic for best sukuk house could not have been tighter. However, the standout deal over the past 12 months was DIB’s role as co-lead manager of a $600 million issue for the government of Malaysia. CIMB has failed to make significant strides in the Gulf, while DIB was able to snatch business from CIMB’s own backyard. Aref Kooheji, DIB’s executive vice-president of investment and corporate banking, says that DIB expects to do more deals in Malaysia and Asia more broadly in the future. Having lead managed the world’s only $1 billion sukuk al ijara, critics argued that DIB and other Islamic banks should be getting involved in more innovative sukuk deals rather than run-of-the-mill transactions. DIB responded to its critics with a string of landmark Islamic bond issuances between December 2004 and November 2005.

The sukuk market has bucked the general trend of lack of supply in Islamic finance.