Venezuela

BEST BANK
Banco Mercantil

BEST DEBT HOUSE
Deutsche Bank

Venezuela’s banks are highly profitable: Santander’s Banco de Venezuela made $200 million in 2004, while BBVA’s Banco Provincial and locally owned Banco Mercantil both made $185 million.

All three banks make money only insofar as president Hugo Chávez lets them, however, and in that Mercantil might have something of an advantage: it wins the close-run race for best bank in Venezuela because it has much less direct sovereign exposure than the other two banks.