Financial Services Industry
Industry: Email Alert RSS FeedWORLD'S BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE BANKS 2005
Global Finance, Jan 2005 by Platt, Gordon
Global Finance selects the leaders in the world's biggest financial market.
The recent slide in the value of the dollar has focused the eyes of the world on the foreign exchange markets, where the volume of trading has exploded to around $1.9 trillion a day. In April 2004, when 52 central banks and monetary authorities worldwide collected data on turnover, as they do every three years, they found that daily global turnover was up 57% at current exchange rates and 36% at constant exchange rates from April 2001.
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The triennial survey also confirmed that the UK remains the center of the foreign exchange world, with a market share of 31.3%, followed by the US with a 19.2% share, and Japan with 8.3%. Daily volume in the US soared 82% since 2001, slightly narrowing Britain's lead. Daily turnover for US derivatives markets, such as forward-rate agreements, interest-rate swaps and foreign exchange options, surged by 164%.
It is clear that increased activity by hedge funds, the fast growth of online foreign exchange trading systems and growing international trade and crossborder investing are contributing to a major increase in currency-trading volume. This has occurred despite a continuing consolidation among dealers.
Global Finance has selected the leading foreign exchange banks in 70 countries and regions, as well as the best online foreign exchange trading systems and the best bank for foreign exchange research.
With input from industry analysts, corporate executives and technology experts, Global Finance editors selected the winners based on objective and subjective factors. Criteria included transaction volume, market share, scope of global coverage, customer service, competitive pricing and innovative technologies.
REGIONAL WINNERS
NORTH AMERICA Citigroup
LATIN AMERICA Citigroup
WESTERN EUROPE Deutsche Bank
(Honorable Mention: BNP Paribas and UBS)
CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE Bank Austria Creditanstalt
SCANDINAVIA Nordea
MIDDLE EAST National Bank of Kuwait
AFRICA Standard Bank
ASIA/PACIFIC HSBC
SOUTHEAST ASIA DBS
BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESEARCH
Bank of New York
BEST ONLINE FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRADING SYSTEMS
Best Bank System: UBS
(Honorable Mention: State Street's FX Connect)
Best Independent: FXaIl (Honorable Mention: Currenex)
COUNTRY WINNERS
ARGENTINA Citigroup
ARMENIA HSBC Bank Armenia
AUSTRALIA ANZ
AUSTRIA Bank Austria Creditanstalt
BAHRAIN Arab Banking Corporation
BELARUS Priorbank
BELGIUM Fortis Bank
BRAZIL Banco Bradesco
CANADA Scotia Capital
CHILE Banco de Chile
CHINA Bank of China
COLOMBIA Bancolombia
COSTA RICA Banco Interim
CZECH REPUBLIC Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka
DENMARK Danske Bank
EGYPT Commercial International Bank
ESTONIA Hansabank
FRANCE BNP Paribas
GEORGIA TBC Bank
GERMANY Deutsche Bank
GREECE National Bank of Greece
HONG KONG HSBC
HUNGARY OTP Bank
INDIA ICICI Bank
ISRAEL Bank Hapoalim
ITALY Banca Intesa
JAPAN Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group
KAZAKHSTAN Kazkommertsbank
KUWAIT National Bank of Kuwait
LATVIA Parex Bank
LITHUANIA Vilniaus Bankas
MALAYSIA Maybank
MEXICO Banamex
MOLDOVA Victoriabank
NETHERLANDS ABN AMRO Bank
NEWZEALANDANZ
NIGERIA First Bank of Nigeria
NORWAY DnB NOR
OMAN BankMuscat
PAKISTAN National Bank of Pakistan
POLAND Bank Handlowy
PORTUGAL Millennium bcp
QATAR Qatar National Bank
RUSSIA International Moscow Bank
SAUDI ARABIA Arab National Bank
SINGAPORE DBS
SLOVAK REPUBLIC Tatra Banka
SLOVENIA Nova Ljubljanska Banka
SOUTH AFRICA Standard Bank
SOUTH KOREA Korea Exchange Bank
SPAIN Banco Santander Central Hispano
SWEDEN Nordea
SWITZERLAND UBS
TAIWAN Chinatrust Commercial Bank
THAILAND Bangkok Bank
TURKEY Akbank
UAE National Bank of Dubai
UKRAINE Privatbank
UNITED KINGDOM Royal Bank of Scotland
UNITED STATES Citigroup
(Honorable Mention: JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York)
VENEZUELA Banco Mercantil
REGIONAL WINNERS
NORTH AMERICA
CITIGROUP
Citigroup's foreign exchange franchise, CitiFX, works closely with corporate clients to review their currency exposure and advise on and execute hedges and other strategies. Dealing in 150 currencies, the bank draws on its worldwide resources to provide its North American clients with 24-hour coverage of currency markets. Citigroup excels in speed of execution and competitive prices and is a major provider of liquidity to the markets.
The bank has a presence in every province of Canada and the Yukon and owns Banamex, the leading foreign exchange bank in Mexico. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange uses Citigroup to handle the settlement of its currency-futures transactions through CLS Bank, which provides continuous-linked settlement and quick delivery.
The bank concentrates on developing long-term relationships with its customers. By understanding their businesses, it is able to construct customized risk-management services and innovative use of currency-related products.
Citigroup uses its technology and liquidity to serve smaller and regional banks as buy-side customers in foreign exchange. The bank's primary processing systems are able to handle large volumes of transactions with ease.
LATIN AMERICA
ClTiGROUP
Citigroup is the leading foreign exchange bank in Latin America, a region in which it has long had a presence. It opened a branch in Buenos Aires in 1914. The bank now does business in 21 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. By sticking it out through the recent lean years, the bank is now well positioned to take advantage of the improving business and investment climate.
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