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Bermuda’s banks have suffered similar woes to those around the world, and the island’s government was forced to inject capital into Butterfield Bank to restore confidence in the banking system just as other governments were forced to do. Only a handful of banks worldwide did not turn to their local governments for money, and one was HSBC. Bank of Bermuda (owned 100% by HSBC) is the highest-rated banking and financial services company in Bermuda.

Scotiabank Jamaica has had another good year, and not just because its parent company has weathered the storm back in Canada. Its first-quarter net income this year was up 14% over the same period in 2008, with a return on equity of 25.3%. Deposits grew $7.4 billion in the first quarter, taking total deposits to $149 billion, reflecting confidence in the bank.

Scandal and corruption have dogged Guatemala. One name that seems to have steered clear of this is Banco Industrial. As the largest bank in Guatemala, with growing operations in Honduras, Industrial has maintained strong results. A combination of the global crisis and the recent internal troubles has given Industrial a flight-to-quality advantage over its peers. In the 12 months to end March 2009, the bank’s deposit base grew by 11.5%.

Yet again Banco Agrícola takes the top award in El Salvador. The bank holds 30% of the Salvadorian market and in the past five years its deposits have grown by 141% and its loan portfolio by 151%. In December 2008, Banco Agrícola recorded impressive profits that accounted for 47.5% of total banking sector profits. Return on equity for the retail division was 31.5% and for the bank as a whole it was 12.5%.

Banco de la Producción (Banpro) showed this year that there was still a profitable path through the financial downturn. In the past 12 months, Banpro has actively managed its portfolio and carefully focused on profitable clients – a push that resulted in a fall in its credit cards in circulation by more than 100,000. Still, in March 2009 the bank surpassed the $1 billion asset threshold.

It was another good year for Banco Popular Dominicano, whose retail and small companies business increased. Assets were up by 12% over 2008, and the net loans portfolio rose by 10.5% mainly as a result of increased interest payments from small and medium-sized companies, and from home equity loans.

A conservative approach has paid off for Republic Bank, and this year it takes the crown of best bank in Trinidad and Tobago over rival RBTT. It has been a turbulent year in the country. Concerns about the economy and banking system have spooked bank customers. RBTT announced the loss of 500 jobs, angering locals who were told there would be no job cuts arising from acquisition by RBC. Concerns about a banking collapse also led consumers to pull money out of Republic Bank in February, when the government took control of CL Financial’s stake in Republic. CL Financial, through its subsidiaries, owned a 55% stake in Republic Bank and had to be rescued by a government package.

In 2006, Scotiabank bought 99.99% of Interfin, the largest privately owned bank in Costa Rica. By the end of 2008, Scotia had rebranded Interfin and merged its small middle-market Costa Rican operation with Interfin’s more commercially focused banking unit. Scotia took the opportunity to upgrade its technology during the merger. Now Luis Liberman, arguably one of the most respected bankers in Costa Rica, is turning Scotiabank de Costa Rica into the leading privately owned bank.

In Spain, Santander operates through two large networks, one carrying its own name, the other that of Banesto in which it has the majority stake. Either bank could win this award in its own right. Together they are extremely powerful and, combined, give the bank leading shares in the domestic market for loans, customer funds under management, numbers of individual customers, assets and profits.

In a tumultuous year for Portuguese banking, two of the five largest groups required recapitalization. Banco Espírito Santo raised €1.2 billion – this followed a May 2006 capital-raising of €1.38 billion. However, shareholders’ equity today is only about €4.6 billion, raising questions about the group’s capital consumption. During the awards period, BES still had the lowest tier I capital of the big five.

Bank of Cyprus was the only big bank to increase after-tax profits year-on-year – €502 million compared with €485 million. It benefits from an ample deposit base, meaning it has not been afflicted by the woes in the international wholesale funding markets, and it maintained its low cost-income ratio at 44.9% despite an expansion of its network in Greece and in Russia, Romania and Ukraine. Its excellent liquidity position allowed it to continue to grow its domestic operations, and loans across the group rose by 29%. At the same time its deposits rose by 11%. Despite the exposure to central and eastern Europe and the deteriorating economic environment, its NPL ratio remained unchanged at 3.8%.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has been at the forefront of the financials recapitalization process throughout Europe, and in Ireland the bank won more M&A advisory business than its rivals – with a 65% market share – in large part because it advised the Irish government on the capital injections into Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland (€4.9 billion each). Away from these jumbo transactions, Bank of America Merrill Lynch was active in the energy sector and diversified foods.