Search results for

The rivalry between BBVA Banco Continental and Banco de Crédito del Peru (BCP) continues. This year BBVA Continental pips BCP at the post for best bank because of its innovative moves in the mortgage market, even though it is second in the rankings by total assets and loans. In December 2007, the bank issued a $25 million residential mortgage-backed securitization. This was the first issue of an authorized programme of $100 million, and the first RMBS operation in Peru. Two different securities, backed by the same SPV, were issued: senior instruments for $23.75 million, and junior instruments for $1.25 million. The demand for both these instruments reached $42 million, more than 70% over the amount offered – demand came from local institutional investors.

Chinatrust remains the best positioned bank in Taiwan. It has been smartest and most successful in building businesses that generate fee rather than interest income, particularly wealth management, the one great cash cow left in Taiwanese banking. In 2007, the fee income ratio at Chinatrust hit 42.48%, among the best in the industry; the share of the national wealth management client market has grown from 11% to 18% since 2004, according to the bank itself, with assets of more than NT$1 trillion ($33 billion) for 320,000 wealth management customers by the end of 2007. Revenue from wealth management grew 133% between 2006 and 2007.

Underlying the headlines are distortions in the market that can be overcome by liberalization.

It is in times of market turmoil that the investment and commitment made by banks to their business lines over previous years become most apparent. For those banks that better dodged the sub-prime bullet, the past 12 months have afforded them this recognition. For these banks, avoiding the inevitable navel-gazing and restructuring to which less fortunate competitors have had to succumb has meant they can continue to do what they are supposed to do – focus on clients. Three banks on Wall Street stand out as having gained yet greater credibility as they navigated through the volatile market conditions and tightening credit environment that dominated the second half of 2007 and beginning of 2008: JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.

Deutsche Bank

The contest for the best bank in France title this year was no less predictable than the French Open final, which went yet again to Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

Azerbaijan is one of the more productive of the smaller central Asian countries, with a population of 8.4 million and a GDP of $31 billion. Comfortably leading the country’s banking industry is International Bank of Azerbaijan, with about half of the country’s banking assets and loans. This year, following a $15 million loan for Bank Respublica and a $30 million loan for Unibank, IBA came to market in May for its own loan, to the amount of $173.5 million, the largest in the country’s history and a graphic reminder of the levels IBA operates at compared with its domestic peers. The deal was originally planned for $80 million but was increased on the back of strong investor interest.

Hansabank – which is set for a name change to Swedbank in the autumn – dominates every sector of the retail and corporate banking market in Estonia and continues to grow rapidly. Total income in the 2007 financial year rose 39% and net profit hit €227 million – an increase of 28% on the previous year.

Citi

The bank with the best story to tell in Spain over the past year is Banesto, a member of the Santander family.

We could be living through the last days of the independent investment banks.