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Perhaps Credit Suisse is seeking to reach the parts other banks dare not reach for?

Last year’s award to went to Equity Bank, thanks to its efforts to encourage the unbanked to get involved with the banking sector. This year there was no doubt that it should win the award again. In fact several bankers we talked to threatened to boycott Euromoney if Equity didn’t win the award; one banker went so far as to say that it deserved the best bank in Africa award.

Banco BIC was described by one banker as "Angola’s Equity Bank" (see Kenya’s best bank). In today’s African banking climate, this comparison with the Kenyan bank is praise indeed. In 2007, Banco BIC consolidated its operation in the Angolan market, increasing its commercial network to cover all the country, while maintaining a strong focus on the service quality.

Changes in domestic market conditions are making borrowing abroad the most attractive option for Chilean banks and corporates.

Commerzbank’s Mittelstand business has held up well and continues to show momentum despite the difficult economic backdrop. The unit, which focuses on the backbone of corporate Germany, reported that it had near record net interest income in the first quarter of 2008 thanks to high loan and deposit growth and stable margins.

China Merchants Bank will buy Hong Kong’s Wing Lung Bank, after beating bids from rivals including ICBC and Bank of Communications. CMB will pay HK$156.50 per share for a 53% stake in Wing Lung, valuing the bank at around $4.7 billion. Rumours of the sale have driven up Wing Lung’s share price: in a letter to shareholders on June 11, CMB’s board noted that the price paid per share represented "a premium of approximately 76.14% over the closing price of HK$88.85 per WLB Share as quoted on the Stock Exchange on 12 February 2008, being the last full trading day prior to recent news articles of the potential sale of the shares on 13 February 2008." It’s a high price to pay, and in the same letter the board of CMB announced that the bank would look to the debt markets to raise sufficient capital to finance the acquisition with an issuance of Rmb30 billion ($4.3 billion). CMB, China’s sixth-largest bank by assets, was advised by JPMorgan in the three-month bidding process. Wing Lung was advised by UBS and Credit Suisse.

NYSE plans rule changes to improve the competitiveness of its trading floor.

DnB Nord Banka maintained its strong record in Latvia in 2007 – growing at almost twice the market average – with assets up by 37% over the year and the bank’s deposits increasing by 11%. The bank’s profitability has been remarkable: profit increased by 95% last year and shareholders have enjoyed a compound five-year growth rate in total equity of 44.16%.

Tight spreads and a lack of differentiation between issuers are things of the past in the covered bond markets. But perhaps this is more “normal” than the bull market situation.

Euromoney’s awards for excellence recognize the banks that have best performed under difficult conditions over the past year. But what of the CEOs? Profile is everything but how can one really judge the most influential chiefs of the world’s biggest banks?

Last year BDO-EPCIB won the best bank in the Philippines award from perennial contender Bank of the Philippines Islands in recognition of the former’s strong results and the ambition of its merger, the largest in the country’s banking history. The newly merged entity, now called BDO, has almost completed the integration of Equitbale PCI bank and looks to be making a real success of the historic deal.

Despite difficult economic conditions in 2007, Moldova-Agroindbank still managed to boost its net profit by a healthy 30% margin to MLei235.5 million ($23.6 million). The bank remains the country’s largest by assets, with a 21% market share and plays a key role in the economy, providing roughly 23% of all loans and accounting for 22% of total deposits. The bank continues to attract new investors, with Slovenian textile manufacturer Tkanina joining fellow Slovene outfits Factor Banka and asset managers Poteza, Activa Invest and Druga Penzija as shareholders.