Awards for excellence – India

Best bank:

HDFC Bank

Best equity house:

DSP Merrill Lynch

Best debt house:

ABN AMRO

Best M&A house:

DSP Merrill Lynch

In India the public-sector banks are going head to head with the private banks. And they are being soundly beaten. Emerging over the past five years, private banks such as HDFC Bank have proved themselves lighter on their feet and more in tune with what customers need.

Gone are the days when the well-established – some would say staid – public banks could sit around earning easy money from regulated lending rates that assured them of cushy margins.