Best Banks 2000: Best banks by region

Global Finance, Oct 2000

Its commercial banking activities are the group's strongest suit, including all commercial, investment banking, leasing, trading house, and securities operations, making the group the largest provider of financial services in CEE. BA/CA's branch network comprises 450 offices, and it has a total staff of 12,OOO.The bank has operations in nine CEE countries: Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine as well as a representative office in Bulgaria. It also operates subsidiaries and representative offices in Italy, Spain, Germany and France that successfully function as cross-border hubs for CEE.

Both BA/CA and its Austrian competitor RZB (Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich) boast strong networks throughout the region, partly reflecting the fact that their own home market continues to offer little in the way of profits. ASIA pACIFIC The best banks in the Asia Pacific region form a roster of 18 top institutions, with the addition of two new countries to this year's list: Bangladesh and Kazakhstan. Building a recovery out of the last economic crisis, these banks, led in the emerging Asian region by HSBC, are forging new and stronger corporate ties through traditional business lines as well as through new e-finance channels.As HSBC and other foreign banks expand into key countries like China, the face of banking in Asia will change substantially AUSTRALIA COMMONWEALTH

BANK OF AUSTRALIA CEO: David Murray commonwealth Bank (CBA) is ,not yet the largest bank in Australia, but in recent years it has become the one to watch down under. Under the leadership of charismatic 51-year-old CEO David Murray, the bank has delivered an average return on equity of around 20%, while climbing to a leadership position in many banking sectors. CBA is the country's largest home lender, credit card issuer, retail deposit holder, and fund manager. CBA merged with Colonial Limited this year; when full-year 2000 earnings were announced at the end of August. Banglafesh ISLAMI BANK BANGLADESH Chairman: Kamaluddin Chowdhury slami Bank Bangladesh is bridging the gap between the Western financial needs of corporations and the principles of Islam. Drawing on foreign investors for nearly two-thirds of its equity, IBB is a driving force in business development in the country. With 500 million taka (about $10 million) in capital, the bank caters to small and midsize businesses in addition to large corporations. The bank is actively traded on the Chittagong and the Dhaka stock exchanges. The bank has a mandate to develop businesses as well as to make a profit. CHINA CHINA MERCHANTS BANK CEO: Ma Weihua china Merchants Bank is the most nechnologically sophisticated bank in mainland China. It has an Internet arm, with more than 100,000 customers, which it is planning to list overseas in what would be the first flotation by any mainland Chinese Internet bank. CMB has few nonperforming loans and is more marketdriven than its competitors. Hong Kong HSBC Chairman: Sir John Bond HSBC has the best franchise inAsia, despite strong competition from other money center banks. HSBC emerged relatively unscathed from the Asian economic crisis and reported a 21 % increase in pretax profit last year, due largely to a turnaround in Asia. HSBC has gained significant reach in Asia's emerging markets, primarily through retail activities, and is planning to expand its investment banking franchise in the region.