Poland

BEST BANK
Bank Pekao

BEST EQUITY HOUSE
CSFB

BEST DEBT HOUSE
BNP Paribas

Polish banks had their best year ever in 2004. The business environment dramatically improved from the tough years of 2002 and 2003, when interest rates fell from 10% to 5.25% in 24 months, and large corporate bankruptcies, such as the Szczecin Shipyard, weighed heavily on banks’ balance sheets.

Now, consumer spending has rebounded, and banks are making enormous profits from consumer loans and mortgages. The bank doing best in this sector is Bank Austria’s BPH PBK.