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"It is a lot more difficult to raise money than people think"

The winner of the best bank in Mexico is the fifth-largest bank in the market but it stands out from the crowd. As the country’s largest non-foreign owned bank, the aptly named "strong bank of Mexico", leads the market in terms of innovation. Banorte has opened the eyes of its competitors to the securitization market, the booming agribusiness markets and the mortgage origination market.

After being among the top performers of 2007, Asia-focused hedge funds are suffering this year. In 2007, the HFR Asia composite hedge fund index returned more than 17%, and the Asia ex-Japan index almost 40%. Year to end-May 2008, however, the Asia ex-Japan index is down almost 10%. If investors piled in based on past performance, they will now be kicking themselves.

There are always four banks in with a shout of winning the best bank in Africa award: Standard Chartered, Barclays, Citi and Standard Bank. While none of the other banks has done anything particularly wrong, one candidate stands out: South Africa’s Standard Bank. It has helped instigate the acquisition of a 20% stake in itself through a R36.7 billion ($5.5 billion) cash offer by ICBC, China’s biggest lender and the largest bank in the world by market capitalization. It is more of a marriage than a partnership, and suggests that China plans to be in Africa for the long run. It is the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese bank and the largest foreign investment in Africa. The deal was negotiated in quite a short time frame. The first approach was made by the Chinese at the IMF meeting in Washington DC at the end of October. The offer was put to the board. There have been shareholder meetings in both South Africa and China.

This time last year, Phil Green had plenty to smile about.

Perhaps the most exciting story in Saudi banking is Al Rajhi’s conversion from an Islamic retail operation to a wholesale financial institution with corporate and investment banking added to its armoury. The decision to develop the wholesale banking business has not been taken lightly: it has taken Al Rajhi almost 50 years to change its model.

As the structured finance market struggles to reinvent itself, the orgy of recrimination among constituents is intensifying.

As part of the decision-making process for the Awards for Excellence, Euromoney journalists conduct numerous interviews with senior bankers who aim to convince us why they should win.

The introduction of the National Credit Act in June last year helped to cut back credit approvals for domestic borrowers. This was no bad thing, particularly in the wake of the US sub-prime crisis. Despite this, Standard Bank’s domestic business continues to grow, with headline earnings a share and dividends a share averaging 20%. The bank’s personal and business banking division – the bulk of which is in South Africa – contributed some 43% of earnings in 2007. The bank’s investment in banking technology for the personal and business markets in South Africa is impressive.

"Redemptions at par"

Santander has been working its magic on Abbey since it acquired the underperforming mortgage bank in 2004, and today the transformation into gutsy competitor to the biggest names in UK banking is complete.

The announcement of the creation of a central counterparty for over-the-counter credit default swap trades has been described as one of the biggest developments in the history of the market.