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Euromoney welcomed 600 senior bankers from around the world to the Tower of London on Wednesday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its Awards for Excellence, the most prestigious awards in global banking. Actor and comedian Rob Brydon was the guest host for the evening. The awards are based on year-round monitoring of market share and customer-satisfaction data compiled by Euromoney’s industry-leading surveys department. This is supplemented by an intensive three-month process of review by Euromoney’s editorial team, culminating in face-to-face interviews with shortlisted candidates.
At the dinner, winners of 20 global awards received their trophies, while 75 regional award winners were also announced and 164 country winners recognized.
BNP Paribas was named the world’s best bank. Euromoney judged quality of senior management as a key differentiator.
“BNP Paribas is that rarity today: a large bank actually delivering on its promises,” says Euromoney. “It is producing better returns even than many of the big US banks, despite being anchored in a low-growth home region, all while proving the benefits of a diversified business model.
“Only excellent bank management teams can satisfy shareholders, regulators and customers all at once today. BNP Paribas has one of the very best. Loyal, technically proficient, not given to boasting or to grand visions, this team has built capital, reducing risk and boosting its customer market share.”
The magazine adds: “It also boasts a number of powerful global franchises, including a strong corporate and institutional banking business which is starting to excel in transaction services.”
Collecting the award, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, chief executive officer of BNP Paribas, says: “We are very honoured to receive the prestigious award of world’s best bank from Euromoney. I would like to express my gratitude to our clients for their loyalty and to our colleagues for their commitment.
“At BNP Paribas, we aspire to be the reference among European banks with a global reach, the preferred long-term partner to our clients, and a contributor to responsible and sustainable global development. These awards reflect the strength of our diversified and integrated business model in helping us to attain this.”
HSBC was named the world’s best investment bank.
“HSBC Global Banking & Markets is a strong and diversified business. Its markets division is one of the best in the world,” says Euromoney. “It has never been overly reliant on volatile fixed income markets, is strong across foreign exchange and rates, and has a better equities division than it is given credit for.
“HSBC is a global debt house to be reckoned with in all markets. It has a market-leading business in asset finance, notably real estate, and a growing presence in strategic equity solutions. It has, by any measure, one of the top three global transaction services businesses.”
The magazine adds: “Just as importantly, it is now one of the most joined-up firms in the industry. In particular, the collaboration between Global Banking & Markets and Commercial Banking has been one of the bank’s great recent achievements. That collaboration is helping to make HSBC a growing force in areas such as high-yield debt, M&A and equity capital markets.”
Collecting the award, Samir Assaf, chief executive of HSBC’s Global Banking & Markets division, says: “It is a great honour to be recognized by Euromoney for the work we have done. What we do is simple – we support our clients, connecting them to opportunities using our global network, strong balance sheet and integrated product capability.”
HSBC was also named as the world’s best bank for corporates.
Francisco González, executive chairman of BBVA, was named banker of the year in recognition for his pioneering role in leading the global banking industry towards a digital future.
“It seems fitting that Euromoney’s banker of the year award for 2016 should go to a bank leader who has not only been talking about the challenge banks face from technology for a decade or more, but has actively been positioning his bank not just to survive in the new era, but to thrive in it,” Euromoney says.
“Francisco González, the executive chairman of BBVA, has done just that. González has gone further than any other bank chief in changing his business from being a purely financial institution to one that is also, at its core, a technology company. This is more impressive still given the size and scale of BBVA’s business. 2015 was a key year in a decade-long transformation process.”
Accepting the award, González says: “At BBVA, we’re transforming ourselves to build a new and better bank for our customers and for society. These awards recognize the achievements that the BBVA team is doing in our transformation journey.”
BBVA was also named the world’s best bank in the emerging markets (EMs).
US firms claimed wins in two of the most prized global categories, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch winning as world’s best bank for financing and Morgan Stanley claiming world’s best bank for advisory.
Other big winners on the night included: Citi, which won world’s best bank for transaction services as well as world’s best bank for financial institutions and world’s best investment bank in EMs; and UBS, which won world’s best bank for markets and world’s best bank for wealth management.
DBS was named the world’s best digital bank. Euromoney said of its achievements: “Putting digital priorities at the heart of what a traditional bank does is easier said than done. At DBS, actions are speaking louder than the words of its rivals.”
It is revealing of banks’ new awareness of intense competition for the brightest and best talent that two of the most keenly contested global awards were away from the product and customer categories.
With women making up more than a third of its executive board, Bank of America Merrill Lynch won Euromoney’s first award as world’s best bank for diversity.
For its many philanthropic efforts, including $100 million committed to help regenerate Detroit, work with the Gates Foundation and other partners to support social entrepreneurs, JPMorgan Chase won as world’s best bank for corporate social responsibility.
Santander won Euromoney’s first global award as world’s best bank for SMEs.
Lazard retained its title as world’s best independent investment bank. Barclays won as world’s best bank for public sector clients.
Lloyds won another new category for its adaptation to the new regulatory environment. ABN Amro, following its IPO last year, won recognition for its complete and successful turnaround since the dark days of the financial crisis and took the world’s best bank transformation award.
Euromoney has re-codified its regional awards to mimic changes in the global awards categories with best banks in each region for financing, advisory, markets, transaction services and wealth management, as well as best banks for SMEs and best digital banks.
Winners of awards as best banks in their region include: Equity Bank in Africa; DBS in Asia; Akbank in central and eastern Europe; Banco de Credito del Peru in Latin America; JPMorgan Chase in the US and BNP Paribas in western Europe.
Clive Horwood, editor of Euromoney, says: “We received thousands of submissions from banks around the world, conducted hundreds of interviews and spent countless hours agonizing over the decisions. All of those honoured tonight are worthy winners.”
This year, Euromoney revamped its awards to recognize profound changes under way in the banking industry. It introduced new global categories, such as world’s best bank for financing and world’s best bank for advisory to replace the old product awards such as best bank at DCM, ECM and M&A.
It also has new global awards by customer category that recognize the world’s best banks for corporates, financial institutions and public sector clients.
Horwood says: “We believe these changes closely reflect how the world’s leading banks are now set up. We also have new awards for world’s best digital bank and world’s best bank for SMEs. In addition, as the industry reflects deeply both on its social duty and the dangers inherent in group think, we have an important new award for diversity.”
The July issue of Euromoney, available at euromoney.com, contains citations for all the 2016 Awards for Excellence, as well as in-depth features on BNP Paribas and HSBC. The August issue will include a detailed interview with Francisco González.
For more information on the Awards for Excellence, and to see photos from Wednesday’s event, visit euromoney.com/awards. The awards articles are only available to subscribers. To ensure you have an up-to-date subscription, contact our hotline on e: hotline@euromoneyplc.com or t: +44 (0) 207 779 8999.