Citigroup remains the best emerging-markets bank. Its coverage, product range, distribution platform and franchise leave competitors trailing in its wake. And it continues to expand, offering ever more products from an ever-growing network of branches. From Latin America through to Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, onto the Middle East and across into Asia, Citibank's presence is long established. Unfortunately for its competitors, it's only going to get tougher to catch it, let alone compete with it. By bringing Salomon Smith Barney and its investment banking expertise on board it really is becoming the one-stop shop. And perhaps even more worrying for its rivals, Citibankers say that the machine is still cruising along on only eight of a possible 12 cylinders.
In a year that presented so many challenges to those that dare to enter such volatile and unpredictable markets, Citigroup increased its earnings by 16%. And the 19% that the emerging-markets operation added to the bottom line was far beyond the rounding error that many other banks' operations in emerging markets manage to contribute.
Citigroup's résumé of achievements in the past 12 months makes impressive reading. In Latin America it was top in M&A, equity and fixed income.