Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2020 Asia winners revealed

View full 2020 results

Euromoney has named DBS the best bank in Asia for the second year in a row in its Awards for Excellence 2020.

“Every conversation about the Singapore lender starts and ends with its digital transformation journey, and for good reason. DBS describes it as ‘one of the most comprehensive for a bank anywhere in the world’ – and it is hard to argue the point,” the magazine said.

Everything at DBS is built with disruption in mind, as well as with care and forethought. Rarely do these attributes overlap – there is never a sense that DBS is doing something for the sake of it. But digital is also a means to an end. It is used to make the bank work better and to help its clients, from retail customers to SMEs to corporates and sovereigns.

Citi is named best investment bank in Asia this year. Its strength, from retail banking to wealth management, is undeniable. But a key factor working in its favour is the institutionalization of Asian firms.

“More than ever, the region’s big multinationals are run by boards rather than single promoters, and this works to the benefit of a universal lender such as Citi, which likes to find good young firms, bank them as soon as possible and let their fortunes develop,” Euromoney observes.

Under the leadership of its head of Asia Pacific banking, capital markets and advisory, Jan Metzger, Citi had a blockbuster year across the board.

Morgan Stanley rarely seems to put a foot wrong in Asia, and it seemed to be everywhere last year, a key player on the deals that mattered most. It wins best bank in Asia for advisory.

Year after year, HSBC quietly gets on with the key business of delivering crucial funding to clients, whether they are looking to refinance debt, acquire an asset or rival, or just bulk up their balance sheet in the face of a once-in-a-century global pandemic. It is named best bank for financing in the region.

DBS also takes the award for Asia’s best bank for transaction services and best bank for corporate responsibility, while Credit Suisse wins the award for the second year running for Asia’s best bank for wealth management. In a region where the greatest amount of wealth is in the hands of entrepreneurs, the Swiss bank is a ‘bank for entrepreneurs’ that many of those wealthy individuals need.

Ping An Bank wins the award for best digital bank in Asia, while HSBC is best bank for sustainable finance.

Pakistan-based Habib Bank is named best bank transformation in Asia for the awards period.