Stanbic Bank CongoStanbic Bank Congo operates in one of the most politically volatile regions in the world. A five-year civil war, which only ended in 2003, tore the country apart and simmering hatred still lingers. Government coup attempts and sporadic violence are part of day-to-day life in the country.
WestpacWith the green light from the Australian Treasury in late October 2008, Westpac’s A$17bn ($11.5bn) acquisition of the sixth largest bank in the country, St George Bank, makes the combined entity Australia’s largest financial services company and sees new chief executive, Gail Kelly, reunited with her former employer.
Crèdit Andorrà“Now more than ever, our obligation as a financial institution continues to be extremely prudent management and diligently serving the customer with the maximum efficiency, always with the transparency and professionalism that are required of us as leaders of the financial sector in our country,” says Josep Perabla, CEO of Crèdit Andorrà.
The past 12 months have been the worst in living memory for the finance industry, but such times of adversity are when banks and bankers earn their reputations. The Banker salutes the institutions that have managed the challenges the crisis presents with skill, courage and expertise.
The Banker has been at the forefront of realising the importance of what is variously called corporate social responsibility; sustainability; and environmental, social and strategic governance, splashing a piece on our cover in April 2002 with the headline: The Importance of Being Good: Why Unethical Banks Will Not Survive. We were, perhaps, too categorical.
The past 12 months have been turbulent for the banking sector. Despite the consequences of the credit crunch on structured credit models and transaction flows, both international and local banks have once again brought an impressive number of deals to the attention of The Banker’s judges. The global, regional and country winners have been picked from the 447 transactions submitted from 93 countries around the world.
After sluggish growth earlier in the decade a broad-ranging financial reform programme initiated in 2004 is slowly but significantly beginning to reshape the Egyptian economy producing record growth, massively increased privatisations and a revamped and reinvigorated banking sector.