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Decisive action and a renewal of its commitment to the region allowed Raiffeisen Bank International to keep its central and eastern European network intact.

Latin America’s best bank

July 2018: An Awards for Excellence special

Citi wins the region’s best bank for financing award. The investment banking team, led by Chris Gilfond, head of capital markets origination at Citi Latin America, has enjoyed greater focus from management as the bank pulled out of all but one of the region’s retail markets. After a string of disposals in recent years, it has been reinvesting.

This year’s award for CEE’s best bank for small and medium-sized enterprises goes to regional sector specialist ProCredit Holding in recognition of its unique franchise, strong development orientation and ability to transform its business model to meet the changing needs of its countries of operation.

Many banks in CEE have been forced to restructure in the wake of the succession of crises that have impacted the region over the last decade, but few have managed a turnaround as fast and effective as that implemented by Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) over the past three years.

Access Bank in Nigeria, under managing director Herbert Wigwe, leads the way in social and environmental banking efforts, helping improve the country’s health and education, reducing emissions, spearheading sustainability and supporting financial inclusion. Its vast range of work wins Access Bank the award for Africa’s best bank for corporate responsibility.

Real success, not just in developing innovative solutions but also in getting more clients online and onto its app, makes CaixaBank western Europe’s best digital bank. Spain has the highest proportion of online bank users among the big five European economies and CaixaBank has Spain’s most frequently used bank desktop site and app, according to a recent study by comScore. CaixaBank itself counts more than five million online users and more than four million mobile app users. It was also one of the top banks in a recent digitalization ranking of European firms by Autonomous Rsearch.

Working out clever ways to allow customers to manage processes like payments and loan applications quickly and easily is a basic requirement of digital banking in 2018. But doing it in huge scale is complex and admirable, and all the more so when it meshes seamlessly with the human and physical side of the business. Bank of America has got all this right, making it North America’s best digital bank.

In green bond issuance, Bank of America leads the way, adding a fourth green bond to its list in May this year. It was its largest yet, at $2.25 billion, and its proceeds will support renewable energy generation.

Best bank in the US

A stellar capital markets franchise, deepening advisory capability and extensive on-the-ground presence proved a winning combination for Citi in CEE investment banking.