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When good times turn to bad, banks have a chance to prove their mettle. Full-year results for all banks for 2007 inevitably included half a year of benign market conditions followed by a steady worsening as the US sub-prime crisis began to spread. By the end of the first quarter of 2008 – the cut-off of the 12 months that Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence are based on – it became clear that one of the Nordic region’s banks – Nordea – was weathering the storm far better than its peers.

Despite the turbulence in global financial markets and growing political noise at home, Garanti Bank has continued to exhibit strong growth, which has secured it the best bank award in a fiercely competitive field. Thanks to its strong client focus, the bank secured the top spot in the cash and non-cash lending fields, extending a total of TL50 billion ($40 billion) of loans. Backed by the rapid expansion of its branch network – Garanti opened 105 new branches in 2007 – it attained the highest growth in total deposits, 30%, among its domestic peers and became the sector leader in foreign currency deposits. Garanti is firmly established as Turkey’s leading consumer and mortgage lender. Increased lending at healthy margins fed into a strong bottom line performance, with Garanti delivering the highest growth in net interest income as well as ordinary banking income. In 2007, Garanti more than doubled its net income to TL2.3 billion, giving it a 40% return on equity, almost twice the sector average of 22%. As well as impressing its nearly 6 million retail customers the bank has demonstrated the trust of international investment banks, recently securing a €600 million loan at a tightly priced all-in level of 67.5 basis points over Euribor.

Khan Bank again deserves to win the award for Mongolia’s best financial institution, having built on the country’s vast energy and minerals resources to create a lender with strong financial fundamentals. Its closest rival, Trade Development Bank of Mongolia, had a strong year but still failed to outclass Khan, which posted a 60% year-on-year jump in 2007 post-tax earnings to Tug19.3 billion ($16.7 million). Net interest income surged 57% to Tug53.7 billion, and the bank’s total equity nearly doubled, to Tug60 billion. Despite global market wobbles, Khan Bank managed to maintain a high capital adequacy ratio: at 11.44% it was slightly lower at end-2007 than a year earlier, but still above 2005 figures. Khan Bank’s executives are also expanding its branch network, having opened 45 new offices during 2007 and boosted headcount by a third, to 3,560.

The transatlantic exchange group this June announced a strategic partnership with the State of Qatar to invest $250 million in a 25% stake in the Doha Securities Market. The DSM will adopt NYSE Euronext technology and gain an international partner while NYSE Euronext will gain a foothold in the fast expanding Middle East.

Santander Totta is truly in a class of its own in Portugal. In a year when most of its biggest rivals have attracted headlines for all the wrong reasons – losses, intrigue, scandal – Totta has been quietly gaining ground.

Standard Chartered

Finland’s largest bank, Nordea, has total assets almost three times larger than second-placed Pohjola Bank and has enjoyed another successful year, with lending increasing from €42.4 billion in 2006 to €47.5 billion in 2007 and deposits increasing from €26.4 billion to €30.4 billion over the same period. Nordea made good use of its strong funding base in Finland that, combined with an increased interest level, gave the bank double-digit income growth.

The announcement of the creation of a central counterparty for over-the-counter credit default swap trades has been described as one of the biggest developments in the history of the market.

IntesaSanpaolo, now the largest bank in Italy by market share, is having better luck with its integration of recent acquisitions than rival UniCredit, which has hit problems with management issues in Sicily and disgruntled HVB minority shareholders.

Goldman Sachs

To hold the number one position in terms of total loans to the private sector, deposits, mutual funds, mortgage loans, credit card loans and net fee income in a market shows that the bank in question is clearly doing something right. Banco Santander Río, the biggest banking franchise in Argentina, not only holds the top spot in several market segments, it can also boast a 40% increase in profits this year. New clients and managed margins increased profits to $290 million. In terms of organic growth, Santander Río has grown impressively compared with its competitors, with middle-market clients increasing 116.3% in three years.

Morgan Stanley