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Iranian bank privatization had a lacklustre start in late February as 5% of Bank Mellat was floated on the Tehran Stock Exchange. As the process grinds painfully on amid US sanctions and collapsed oil revenues, a bank already in private hands continues to stand out.

It was a difficult year for First Caribbean as falling tourist revenues across the Caribbean hit local industries. As the bank has businesses in the Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, it was not immune to the economic environment. The chief of the group resigned, being replaced in September last year by John Orr, who had formerly been head of two north American retail banks. Despite the background turmoil, the Barbados business segment of First Caribbean enjoyed an increase in net income over 2008 to $69.4 million from $65 million in 2007, driven by domestic retail business. Deposits also increased by 5% to $3 billion over the period. Across all regions, customer satisfaction ratings with the bank increased by 6% to 74%.

A positive side in the shift in economic power from West to emerging Asia: growing consumption in China inter alia looks like pulling the world economy out of recession.

Santander lags behind Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland in its share of customer deposits in the UK and ranks only fourth in its share of lending but all the momentum in UK banking lies with the group the Spanish bank is building on the foundations of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley.

CREDIT SUISSE: The Swiss bank has benefited the most from clients moving away from wealth

Amid the almost terminal instability threatening the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a few pillars of the business community have remained solid. One of these is certainly MCB, the banking group privatized in 1991 and controlled by the country’s richest man, Mian Mohammad Mansha. Voted best bank in Asia in 2008 by Euromoney, Pakistan’s largest private sector bank has experienced both change and consolidation in the past year. MCB sold a minority 20% stake to Maybank of Malaysia in summer 2008; since then, the two have been working together to expand into new markets, notably in the Middle East and North Africa, while boosting their united presence in the Islamic banking sector. Total assets continue to rise at MCB, up 3% in the first quarter of 2009 to Rs456 billion ($5.7 billion). First-quarter 2009 results were also strong, with earnings up 8% year on year in the first three months, to Rs6.24 billion. While other Pakistan lenders, such as Allied Bank and UBL, continue to make gains, eating into MCB’s lead, the process is slow. Even the bank’s direct peers grudgingly accept MCB’s pre-eminence. "They’re still ahead of the rest," says a rival banker. "Better managed, better systems, better IT, better on-the-ground presence, better retail banking." Another notes that the bank’s 1,000-strong branch network allied to its technologically pioneering nature and strength in the SME sector makes it "hard to touch" for probably the next "two or three years at least".

Morgan Stanley: Experience and long-term relationships combined with physical trading and financing capacity were more important than ever in a year of unprecedented commodity-price volatility

GOLDMAN SACHS: The firm used every trick in the book to raise large amounts of capital for its bank and corporate clients when they needed it most

Yet again Bank Muscat takes the award for best bank in Oman. In 2008, the bank recorded a market share of 43.7% in total assets, 39.9% of total credit and 38.14% of total customer deposits. Its share of total savings deposits was 44.5% as at December 31. As part of Muscat’s effort to mobilize low-cost deposits, it launched certificates of deposit targeting OR250 million ($650 million) through auctions over a 12-month period, raising OR86.2 million in the first six CD issues. The aim of the CD programme is to develop a long-term yield curve for the Omani riyal.

In 2007, Ukraine’s economy grew by 7.3%. Last year it shrank by 9% as it became the first country to seek an IMF bailout. That bailout duly came when the Fund signed an agreement for $16.4 billion. Still, Ukraine’s troubles are far from over, with the country beset by political infighting.

CREDIT SUISSE: Durability is key to success across all regions