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Despite the turbulence in global financial markets and growing political noise at home, Garanti Bank has continued to exhibit strong growth, which has secured it the best bank award in a fiercely competitive field. Thanks to its strong client focus, the bank secured the top spot in the cash and non-cash lending fields, extending a total of TL50 billion ($40 billion) of loans. Backed by the rapid expansion of its branch network – Garanti opened 105 new branches in 2007 – it attained the highest growth in total deposits, 30%, among its domestic peers and became the sector leader in foreign currency deposits. Garanti is firmly established as Turkey’s leading consumer and mortgage lender. Increased lending at healthy margins fed into a strong bottom line performance, with Garanti delivering the highest growth in net interest income as well as ordinary banking income. In 2007, Garanti more than doubled its net income to TL2.3 billion, giving it a 40% return on equity, almost twice the sector average of 22%. As well as impressing its nearly 6 million retail customers the bank has demonstrated the trust of international investment banks, recently securing a €600 million loan at a tightly priced all-in level of 67.5 basis points over Euribor.

China Merchants Bank will buy Hong Kong’s Wing Lung Bank, after beating bids from rivals including ICBC and Bank of Communications. CMB will pay HK$156.50 per share for a 53% stake in Wing Lung, valuing the bank at around $4.7 billion. Rumours of the sale have driven up Wing Lung’s share price: in a letter to shareholders on June 11, CMB’s board noted that the price paid per share represented "a premium of approximately 76.14% over the closing price of HK$88.85 per WLB Share as quoted on the Stock Exchange on 12 February 2008, being the last full trading day prior to recent news articles of the potential sale of the shares on 13 February 2008." It’s a high price to pay, and in the same letter the board of CMB announced that the bank would look to the debt markets to raise sufficient capital to finance the acquisition with an issuance of Rmb30 billion ($4.3 billion). CMB, China’s sixth-largest bank by assets, was advised by JPMorgan in the three-month bidding process. Wing Lung was advised by UBS and Credit Suisse.

Citi

It was a hit and miss year for the UAE’s leading banks. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank found itself caught up in the US sub-prime crisis, leading to a $152 million writedown in 2007, with the possibility of more to come. Dubai Islamic Bank, too, is undergoing a difficult period after police detained the former chief executive of Deyaar Development, of which DIB owns 41%, as part of an investigation into a possible fraud.

JPMorgan Consistency and ability to execute landmark transactions makes it a clear winner in emerging markets.

The contest for the best bank in France title this year was no less predictable than the French Open final, which went yet again to Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

Bank of Cyprus is not only the largest bank in the country but also the best run. With net income growth of 55%, a cost to income ratio of 43.6% and a return on equity of 27.6%, it is hard to fault.

Deutsche Bank

HSBC is still the best bank in Hong Kong and shows no sign of relinquishing its dominant position in its home market. The bank extended its lead over the competition when measured by profits – quite some feat given how far in front it already was. Profits before tax grew 42% in 2007 to HK$ 53.8 billion ($6.9 billion), more than double those of the nearest competitor.

Danske Bank remains the dominant player of the Danish banking market, with almost one-third of the banking market and assets many times larger than its nearest rival. While others, such as second-placed Nordea and Jyske Bank may be growing more rapidly – Jyske Bank increased its core earnings by 14% in 2007 – Danske is no slouch either. Its assets grew around 14% in 2007 and shareholders have enjoyed a compound five-year growth rate in total equity of 11.86% – impressive for a bank that totally dominates its market – while return on equity is still a respectable 15.1%.

In March 2008, Bank of Bahamas International became the first retail bank from the Bahamas to have a physical presence in Miami. The new office hopes to expedite trade and help Bahamians who shop and seek medical care and education in the US state.

Although the end of the property and construction boom made it a worrying year for Irish banks, Allied Irish has managed to turn in decent results and post gains in market share across a number of segments in its home market including business lending, personal lending, residential mortgages and deposit.