Global Finance: What inspired Produbanco to come to the aid of the country’s indigenous people during the pandemic?

Ricardo Cuesta Delgado: The financial system is a critical catalyst to foster real change regarding global challenges like improving people’s prosperity, fighting inequalities, tackling climate change and protecting our biodiversity. Given the need to take urgent action toward these challenges, it was our obligation as a leading bank in sustainable finance in Ecuador to join the Por Todos initiative.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Por Todos was born as a private sector emergency fund directed to mitigate the impact of this crisis through effective and timely solutions, especially to help those most in need. The resources collected were destined to several areas: nutrition and basic staple needs for the most vulnerable, protection of health workers and their families, tests and equipment for detection of the virus, and respiratory-assistance equipment.

Produbanco joined this initiative due to its extensive network and the important services it provides to the most vulnerable, such as is the case with the Amazonian communities.

In a special effort that far exceeds the value of economic investments, such as the protection of our cultural heritage against the threat of the pandemic, Por Todos implemented initiatives to protect Amazonian communities—the last cornerstones of our country’s deepest identity. Aware that a massive contagion in these groups could be detrimental to the survival of these ancestral cultures, the Por Todos fund cooperated with USFQ, a local university, and Fundación Raiz to create a project for immunological control and education, testing and enough food provisions to sustain isolation, with strict respect for their cultural practice and ways of life.

GF: How has the bank’s financial technology adapted to increased demand?

Cuesta Delgado: Within our strategic plan, we directed our priorities toward our digital transformation efforts. In this regard, prior to the pandemic, Produbanco already had a very wide online product and services offering, which allowed it to digitally accompany its clients in the majority of their financial needs during the difficult year.

Although there was a large increase in digital channel transactions, our clients already used these in order to carry out their transactions, which is the result of the digital strategy the bank has been implementing since a few years back in order to improve the internal and external customer experience, and thus accelerated the adoption and performance of these digital channels.

Produbanco’s Mobile App has experienced very significant growth from January to October 2020, with approximately 94% of transactions performed using this channel, while via the web growth is approximately 37%.

Finally, for us, leveraging service channels has been and continues to be a primary objective—to adapt ourselves to the needs and expectations of our clients in their daily lives.

GF: What are your goals as a new board member of the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, representing South America?

Cuesta Delgado: I am very thankful for all the UNEP-FI South American banks that voted for me; it is an honor and important responsibility. My motivation as a member of the UNEP-FI Banking Board is my strong belief that it is possible to build a better world through sustainability.

Sustainability is not only a good practice, it is absolutely necessary; everyone’s future depends on forceful collective action, specifically on the role of financial institutions and the promotion of sustainability practices across its entire value chain.

We are committed to supporting the implementation of the Principles of Responsible Banking in our region. Through these principles, we can be the catalyst for change in other industries as we intermediate with all of them and consolidate the demands of our stakeholders and demonstrate change—not only in our banking practices through our actions, but also with best practices and real impacts on the economy, society and climate change. It is important to align our business strategy and to demonstrate real change, achieve results, fulfill commitments and accelerate positive impact.

“The very mission statement of our bank is literally ‘to help people and businesses to improve their lives,’ and we take it seriously,” says Alexis Lacroix, CEO Alfa-Bank Belarus. The group donated the annual income of one of its companies, about 1 billion, to the Russian government’s anti-Covid-19 initiatives. Separately, its principal operating units, in Russia and Belarus, have each plunged into helping their communities weather the Covid storm.

As a systemically important bank, Alfa-Bank Russia helped consumers and businesses financially; for the community, it donated sanitizers, personal protective equipment and laptop computers for remote study to orphanages and foster homes. It purchased new equipment and supplies for medical facilities and arranged activities for frontline workers to bolster mental health.

Along with supporting the Red Cross and the Good Phone project, a free hotline for elderly Belarusians, and providing customers with a concierge service for medicines and other goods, Alfa-Bank Belarus has been looking after its own. Employees have received an average 12.5% raise and upgraded medical insurance and the bank kept morale high by producing a variety show for employees, The Alfa-Bank Night Show.   

While the El Salvadoran government imposed a quarantine and lockdown when the pandemic hit, Banco Cuscatlán has maintained service to its customers and even completed an acquisition of Financieras ScotiaBank El Salvador. Through it all, CEO Jose Eduardo Luna communicated steadily with staff to keep them motivated as they shifted to remote work. The bank has helped customers financially during this period and improved technology platforms and products as demand for digital banking increases.

As the community began to feel the effects of the pandemic, Banco Cuscatlán purchased Covid-19 tests for 60,000 Salvadorians, and provided household appliances to containment centers, chartered a humanitarian flight to repatriate Salvadorans from Panama and Belize, and when Tropical Storm Amanda hit, distributed food packages to the affected populations.   

In addition to maintaining business continuity and helping clients finance services and goods for the community following the outbreak, Bank of China (BOC) USA donated shipments of PPE to frontline responders and helped fund the ICU and emergency room expansion of New York-Presbyterian Hospital. The U.S. subsidiary of one of China’s largest banks donated to the Covid-19 Ventilators Fund, the York-Presbyterian-Queens Covid-19 Healthcare Worker Fund and the Covid-19 Relief Fund for the Robin Hood Foundation. BOC U.S.A. has also provided 4,150 meals for essential workers.

“In times of turmoil, we make every effort to go above and beyond in expanding our charitable giving efforts and provide relief for the hardest hit communities in our local footprint,” says Peter Reisman, managing director and chief communications officer.

Along with a focus on business continuity that includes building up its digital banking channels, Bank of Georgia’s primary post-outbreak initiatives have prioritized the community. The bank purchased medical supplies for the Ministry of Health that included 20,000 tests, 10 ventilators, 50,000 masks and 60,000 gloves. As schools shifted from to remote, it financed a year of internet access for 300 families, enabling their children to continue their education; helped create online informal education and summer courses for primary school students; and gifted Zoom Education licenses to the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

Perhaps the biggest blow the Bermuda and Cayman Islands economies suffered from the pandemic was a collapse in tourism; Butterfield stepped in to help. In partnership with The Loren Hotel and local churches, the bank delivered 500 to 1,000 meals daily to elderly and vulnerable island residents. It chartered a flight to bring Bermudian college students home after US colleges and universities shut down. In the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey, where Butterfield acquired a presence last year, they worked with local restaurant Les Cotils and Bright Beginnings Children’s Centre to donate meals to frontline workers and families. The bank also diverted funds earmarked for events to instead support Cambridge University’s Covid-19 Research Fund and other non-profits exploring treatments for the coronavirus.

“We recognize that our role within the communities we call home extends beyond providing financial services,” says Neff, managing director of Bermuda and International Wealth at Butterfield.        

CIBC Mellon adopted Together in Action, a program under which the bank makes a donation per employee to participate in a volunteering event connected to Covid-19 relief, which can include events not tied to a specific organization or team initiative. Staff can make masks, deliver groceries to the vulnerable, and virtually chat with seniors, and log these activities to secure donations from the bank. CIBC allocates $100 per hour of volunteering toward a donation of up to $25,000 per employee to an organization or organizations selected by the employee.

CIBC Mellon also matches 50% and later, 100% for employee donations to the Red Cross to support its emergency response in Asia; $10,000 to Pathways to Education; $10,000 to ConquerCOVID19.ca, a non-profit that has purchased and distributed PPEs during the pandemic; $25,000 to Food Banks Canada; and $30,000 to local organizations working toward racial justice.

North Carolina’s Coastal Credit Union Foundation is directing assistance to local non-profits that assist groups that have suffered some of the worst economic fallout from the Covid-precipitated economic crisis. It has provided grants in excess of $1 million to provide community assistance in response to Covid, over three rounds of funding. Programs the credit union benefited include the NC Restaurant Relief Fund, which received $100,000 to help local restaurant employees left without work by business closures as a result of the coronavirus. Another $100,000 grant helped the United Way of the Greater Triangle’s Rapid Response Fund to serve meals to vulnerable residents. The Kramden Institute, which provide computers to public school and community college students, and the Wake Tech Foundation’s Completion Scholarships program both received $50,000 from the credit union.

In January, Kyrgyzstan’s Demirbank installed 10 new Cash-IN ATMs in different cities, allowing customers to deposit funds in addition to withdrawing cash.

In July, the bank installed new bus stops in Bishkek, the capital and largest city, to help alleviate overcrowding and congregating while Covid-19 cases were peaking. Demirbank is also directing resources to the communities more basic needs. It is partnering with Red Crescent and Bishkek’s city government to provide humanitarian support to 2,000 needy families in the capital and other regions during the pandemic. And it is working with other financial institutions and the Union of Banks of Kyrgyzstan to supply medical equipment to health care providers, including six ventilators, 100 oxygen concentrators and 1,000 pulse oximeters (heart rate monitors) that the partners gave to the Ministry of Health.

Doha Bank focused its Covid-related contributions to persons most in need as a result of the pandemic. It recently contributed QR2 million to Qatar Charity’s to provide food and medical supplies to quarantined migrant workers. To support an e-learning initiative launched by Qatar Charity, the bank contributed 1,000 tablets that will help students resume their education online during the period of social isolation. Additionally, after the August Beirut harbor explosion left over 200 people dead and 6,500 injured while destroying or damaging much of the city’s heart, Doha Bank contributed QR300,000 to Lebanon in Our Hearts, a fundraising campaign to support the Lebanese people.

EFG Hermes collaborated with the Egyptian Food Bank to feed 10,000 families affected by lockdowns, while employee donations helped a Covid-19 relief fund support 1,500 temporary laborers’ families. The bank supported distribution of health information and 600 hygiene kits packaged in bags produced by small, women-owned businesses, and gave  E£20 million to the Tahya Misr Fund, for social development projects. The Foundation even partnered with Luxor officials to furnish a quarantine unit for 70 people in the city area, and five sanitization gates.

Emirates NBD Bank, along with Emirates Islamic, donated $1.09 million to provide laptops to students in the UAE so they could continue to receive education during the pandemic. The bank donated $2.73 million to the Social Solidarity Fund Against Covid-19 and $1.36 million to the 10 Million Meals campaign. The bank itself sponsors an e-volunteering program that has skilled employees delivering online webinars, tutorials and classes in languages, yoga, cooking and gardening to fellow employees and their families.

Itaú Unibanco supplied an initial donation of R$1 billion in April to launch Todos pela Saúde (All for Health), a collaborative program to fight the pandemic. The initiative has helped a wide range of people with tests and care, from the elderly and vulnerable to truck drivers, and provides medical and personal protection equipment to hospitals. Itaú Unibanco has also invested R$40 million to research new vaccines. The bank, which has gained more than 1 million new users on its digital channels during the pandemic, is also working to add more than 30 new functions, along with tutorials to explain the new features.

KCB contributed Ksh150 million to the government’s Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund while branches of the bank make donations of their own and the KCB Foundation supports a wide range of projects, from hydroponic greenhouse farming to nutrition for high school students. The foundation is helping vocational students upgrade skills to reduce youth unemployment, which has soared during the crisis. The bank extended $92 million of loans to customers using its mobile banking platform and KCB M-pesa with Safaricom and waived fees for transfers between customers’ mobile money wallets and bank accounts.

Sai Gon Hanoi Bank’s online banking services, especially in cross-border sales, got a boost from the increased use of remote services following the outbreak, gaining 100,000 new customers. SHB partners with the government’s SME development fund to extend low-cost funding, and is partnering with Amazon Vietnam to help SMEs sell online. The bank is donating to the Covid-19 fund through the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee. It leads a “Strong Faith in Vietnam” campaign, opening accounts to receive donations for frontline workers, soldiers and others infected with the virus. SHB also shored up its solvency, issuing more than 500 million shares to keep its capital ratio above 10%.

Since the pandemic outbreak, Société Générale Morocco focused on helping SMEs survive the economic crisis. It offers special overdrafts and medium-term credits to help small companies revive their businesses under a guarantee facility set up with the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The bank also launched a collaborative platform in partnership with Maroc Impact, Daba Solutions, to connect people in need with project leaders who can help them, and another platform, Daba Info, that offers news, health and safety advice, remote working tools and tips for improving the stay-at-home experience under social isolation. In March, Société Générale contributed $12 million to King Mohammed VI’s Covid-19 relief fund; it also donated computers for children from disadvantaged backgrounds to participate in online learning.

TDB Group, parent of Kenya’s Trade and Development Bank, provides development finance for Eastern and Southern Africa and has worked to scale up efforts to fight Covid-19 in this region. As the pandemic started, TDB mitigated the health and economic shocks by ensuring business continuity and repositioning itself to strongly respond to the pandemic.

To ensure liquidity for corporate finance and short- and long-term trade, TDB designed and implemented solutions for its sovereign and corporate clients to keep their developmental objectives on track.

The bank also leveraged blockchain technology to facilitate access to trade finance and counter any disruptions to supply chains and it has completed end-to-end trade finance transactions using this technology. Executives credit blockchain with several advantages over paper-heavy processes, including speed of transaction and cost efficiencies.

Standard Chartered is working with development-sector partners in Bangladesh to help communities hit hard by the pandemic. With BRAC (Building Resources Across Communities), the bank has provided food and hygiene support to 170,000 people, or 5.7 million meals, and had paid for medical services for 460 critically ill Covid patients through the Sajida and Bidyanondo foundations. The bank has donated $1.3 million to UNICEF for care and remote education for children separated from their families because of the virus and given $300,000 to Red Cross programs to support health care workers on the frontlines. Standard Chartered has also advocated for a credit guarantee scheme for SMEs, which is now being implemented by Bangladesh bank, the nation’s central bank.

Selection was limited to entities that submitted entries. After an initial review by a panel of three independent judges, those whose efforts were on par with peers (rather than above the average) were eliminated. The remaining entrants were evaluated, scored in each category and ranked separately by each of the judges as well as two Global Finance editors. Scoring took into consideration local conditions and the capacity of the entrant, and awarded points for speed, innovation and cross-border reach.

OPTIONS CLEARING CORP. (OCC)—For clearing record numbers of contracts in volatile markets and matching $100,000 in employees’ charitable contributions.

ORBIAN—For uninterrupted supply-chain finance support services and providing funding for buyers and sellers.

PITNEY BOWES BANK—For use of customer data to proactively reach out with helpful services.

ABK-EGYPT—For customer financial-relief efforts and providing food for daily laborers.

AKBANK—For creating a fund to support public hospitals in Turkey.

BANCO PINCHINCHA—For its leadership in the creation of Ecuador’s Sumar Juntos trust.

BANCO SANTANDER MEXICO—For financial support for the development of the convalescent plasma protocol.

BANCOLDEX—For financial tools and support for companies throughout Colombia.

BANCOLOMBIA—For debt relief and special credit lines, as well as construction of intensive care units (ICUs).

BANGKOK BANK—For relief packages for SMEs and retail customers, and support for food banks.

BANISTMO—For supporting a home-care program for patients in Panama with Covid-19.

BANK OF PALESTINE—For creating an innovative digital platform for donations, with a daily prize for using its mobile app.

BIL—For coordinating the response of the banking industry in Luxembourg and introducing an electronic signature.

BPI PORTUGAL—For donating more than 525 tablet computers so hospitalized Covid-19 patients could talk to loved ones.

CB BANK MYANMAR—For donating medical supplies to public hospitals and feeding 22,000 members of the Myanmar Theatrical Association.

CIBC—For making 665,000 client calls and approving 52,000 loans under Canada’s Emergency Business Account program.

COMMERCIAL BANK OF CEYLON—For developing a fleet of mobile banks with ATMs during the lockdown.

CWB FINANCIAL GROUP—For its mental-health and wellness support for employees of Canada Western Bank.

EUROBANK—For its active support of the Greek public health system, including equipment for ICUs.

HABIB BANK—For full coverage of Covid medical expenses for staff, plus meals for medical workers and daily laborers in Pakistan.

KOMERCIJALNA BANKA AD SKOPJE—For donating PPE to the Ministry of Health in North Macedonia.

MASHREQ—For UAE’s first national fraud awareness campaign.

MILLENNIUM BIM—For donating the funds from its canceled 25th anniversary celebration to fighting Covid in Mozambique.

NATIONAL BANK OF BAHRAIN—For donating food and necessities to thousands of migrant workers.

NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT—For opening a donation account to support Egypt’s doctors, nurses and university hospitals.

NCB FINANCIAL GROUP JAMAICA—For purchasing ventilators to equip the ICUs of hospitals in Caribbean countries.

OTP BANKA—For aid to hospitals in Croatia that were damaged by the March 22 earthquake in the Zagreb area.

PRIME BANK—For partnering with five NGOs to raise funds for underprivileged communities in Bangladesh.

PT BANK DANAMON INDONESIA—For working with government agencies, hospitals and health clinics to benefit more than 35,000 people.

RAIFFEISEN BANK INTERNATIONAL (RBI)—For supporting hospitals and healthcare workers throughout the CEE

SANTANDER POLSKA—For its Poland-wide fundraising for medical equipment for hospitals and PPE for frontline workers.

SEB LITHUANIA—For introducing an e-commerce tool for businesses and adding helpful functions to its mobile app.

VUB BANK—For opening 8,000 free accounts, improving digital services and purchasing ventilators for hospitals in Slovakia.       

Rival chip makers are bonding together at an accelerating pace to expand their product range and market share, as the semiconductor industry undergoes a major consolidation. Many semiconductor manufacturers are bulking up amid soaring demand for certain chips—such as those used in making laptop computers—in the new work-from-home world created by the pandemic. Other chip producers are slimming down to focus on a particular niche.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced plans last month to buy Xilinx, inventor of the field-programmable gate array, in a $35 billion all-stock deal. Xilinx’s invention allows platforms to be more flexible, since its integrated circuits can be reconfigured by a customer after manufacturing.

The sharp rise in share prices of companies such as AMD this year has enabled them to use their higher-valued stock as currency in merger deals. AMD’s announcement came just weeks after Nvidia agreed to buy Arm Holdings, a British chip designer backed by SoftBank Group, for $40 billion, much of it to be paid in the form of Nvidia shares. If the deal goes through, it would be the biggest in the industry.

Meanwhile, South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix agreed to buy most of Intel’s flash memory manufacturing business in a deal valued at $9 billion. Intel CEO Bob Swan said in a statement that the deal “will allow us to further prioritize our investments in differentiated technology where we can play a bigger role in the success of our customers and deliver attractive returns to our stockholders.”

The sale also includes Intel’s manufacturing operations in Dalian, China. It is expected to help SK Hynix compete with larger producers, including Samsung, the world’s largest maker of flash memory chips, which plans to spend big to compete with TSMC and Intel in contract chip making.

The notion that bigger is better was also apparent in Analog Devices’ $20 billion acquisition in July of Maxim Integrated Products. There is limited overlap in the companies’ businesses. The combined company would be worth $68 billion, according to Analog.

Companies worldwide raised a record $750 billion in the equity capital markets during the first three quarters of 2020, using the proceeds to build cash cushions in these uncertain times, or to fund acquisitions and increase market share ahead of the expected recovery

Data from Refinitiv show that the surge in capital-raising activity was driven by secondary offerings of common stock, aided by a rise in global initial public offerings to a two-year high. The momentum has carried into this year’s final quarter, with China’s Ant Group raising $34 billion in October, beating Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion sale last year to become the largest IPO ever.

The 4,200 equity capital market offerings globally in the first three quarters of 2020 was also a record. The nine-month total proceeds of $477 billion from stock offerings was up 78% from the same period last year. Global convertible note offerings, which can be exchanged for shares, rose 41% to a record $137 billion.

In Asia, IPOs of companies based in China more than doubled to a record $60 billion in the first nine months of this year, which does not include Ant’s listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The new Nasdaq-like STAR Market in Shanghai attracted a rush of technology issues. The Philippines had its largest IPO in seven years in October. Converge ICT Solutions, which plans to connect 60% of Filipino households to broadband in the next five years, raised $600 million, but its shares slipped in their debut after being priced at a premium to regional peers.

The US new-issuance market had its busiest third quarter by deal count since the Dot-com era, with 81 IPOs raising $28.5 billion versus $10.8 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to Renaissance Capital. The healthcare sector accounted for about one-half of this year’s IPO activity in terms of number of deals. “A wave of high-profile tech unicorns resulted in the [technology] sector netting the most quarterly proceeds,” says Bill Smith, CEO of Renaissance.

Morgan Stanley was the top managing underwriter of equity and equity-related issues globally in the first three quarters of 2020, with more than $76 billion of proceeds, followed by Goldman Sachs, with $73 billion, and J.P. Morgan, $67 billion, according to Refinitiv.

“IPO alternatives continued to generate buzz, with a record-breaking 82 SPACs raising $30 billion and direct listings from Asana and Palantir,” Smith says. “The steady flow of deals has kept the pipeline moving.” The surge in equity issuance came as stock markets rose sharply in many countries and central banks pumped out massive amounts of liquidity to stimulate economic growth.

Is the technology share party over for investors? Either the market is getting frothy, or investment bankers are having a hard time pricing IPOs of fast-growing companies that are making big losses.

Data-warehousing cloud platform Snowflake jumped 112% in its spectacular first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on September 16. At $3.4 billion, it was the largest IPO of the year to date, and the biggest software IPO ever—more than double that of Dell-backed VMware, which raised just under $1 billion in 2007, according to Renaissance Capital.

“First-day pops are fine, but only a select few get those allocations,” says William K. Smith, CEO of Renaissance. Snowflake was the twelfth IPO this year to return 100% on its first day, he says. Only three are now trading above their first-day close. Priced at $120 a share (up from an original range of $75 to $85), Snowflake opened at $245 and quickly rose above $300 before settling just under $254 on its debut day, giving it a market cap of $70 billion. Bookrunners were Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and seven others.

Banks across Europe—weakened by negative interest rates and facing a wave of defaults by their customers in the year ahead, due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic—are suddenly rushing to merge with rivals to create economies of scale and cut costs.

The European Central Bank, which oversees the biggest eurozone banks, gave the green light to such mergers in late July, when it issued a draft guide on how it would treat some of the issues that commonly arise in bank M&A deals. The long-awaited consolidation of banks in Europe’s fragmented banking market has finally begun.

In Spain, CaixaBank and Bankia agreed to merge last month, creating the country’s biggest lender, with €650 billion ($758 billion) in assets and 20 million customers. “The merger will allow us to face the challenges of the next ten years with greater scale, financial strength and profitability,” said CaixaBank CEO Gonzalo Gortazar.

In Italy, Intesa Sanpaolo in late July secured the two-thirds majority needed to acquire UBI Banca, in one of Europe’s biggest banking mergers in a decade. Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, said his was the first bank in Europe to launch a new consolidation phase that will strengthen the continent’s banking sector.

Messina said in a statement that the development of an inclusive and sustainable growth model becomes more pressing at a time when social and economic inequalities have been exacerbated by the pandemic. “Together we are building a new institution that will strengthen the Italian financial system and lead in the European banking landscape,” he added.

In Switzerland, UBS chairman Alex Weber told the bank’s annual strategy meeting last month that he would like to do a megamerger with Credit Suisse, although no formal talks have been held. Both banks are active in global wealth management. Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas were also mentioned as potential merger partners for UBS.

The rise of the euro to a six-year high on a trade-weighted basis has caught the attention of the authorities. Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, says policymakers are “watching the appreciation of the euro closely for any impact on prices.”

The impact of a strong currency on prices—and trade—is fairly straightforward. The strong euro will dampen import prices, weighing on inflation, and will be a headwind for EU exporters. If the euro’s rise continues or accelerates, the ECB could lower rates or step up its €1.35 trillion ($1.57 trillion) bond-buying initiative.

The ECB kept its deposit rate unchanged at a negative 0.5% and made no changes in bond purchases at its September meeting. There is no immediate need to act, Lagarde says, noting that incoming data suggest a strong rebound in activity in the eurozone, albeit well below prepandemic levels.

The euro’s strength reflects a weak dollar, as well as hopes for a “European Renaissance,” now that the bloc has agreed to an unprecedented common borrowing and spending package to boost the economy. The €750 billion Next Generation EU fund will provide grants, half of which do not have to be repaid.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s shift toward targeting average inflation means it is likely to pursue “even looser policy, for even longer,” says Jonas Goltermann, senior markets economist at Capital Economics. The fall in real US interest rates (adjusted for inflation) and government bond yields relative to those in other developed economies “will continue to put significant downward pressure on the dollar,” Goltermann says.

Since the coronavirus pandemic intensified in March, the dollar has seen some bouts of “risk-off buying” as a safe-haven currency, but these have always proved to be temporary, says Win Thin, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman. “This time is likely to be no different.”

Global Finance: What makes Citi the Best Corporate Bank?

Jason Rekate: Within Citi’s Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory division, the Corporate Bank, including both head office and subsidiary coverage, has the largest and deepest global presence of any bank, with a physical presence in nearly 100 countries and territories and the ability to serve nearly 60 additional countries from nearby “presence countries/hubs.” We provide our multinational clients with differentiated service, both where they operate today and when they grow tomorrow—globally, regionally and locally.

We offer a robust platform that includes specialized country desks to meet the needs of clients headquartered around the world while also ensuring that we provide a globally consistent platform that ensures the quality of coverage, an ability to allocate capital globally and efficiently and an unmatched set of products and solutions. We are a preferred banking partner for 95% of the world’s Fortune 100 companies, and have built long-established, institutional relationships covering major corporations, financial institutions, public-sector entities and local market infrastructures.

Our customers get the best advice and content they need based on our unmatched market knowledge, combined with deeply embedded business connections across sectors and geographies. We serve our clients through connections to over 300 clearing systems from our globally integrated platforms and capabilities. We offer robust technical execution, making it possible to deliver operational consistency across multiple countries. Lastly, Citi offers clients tailored solutions from our leading global product capabilities as a premier banking, capital markets and advisory bank.

GF: What has been the biggest impact on the business from Covid-19?

Rekate: As most of the world went into a combination of lockdown and remote work in mid-March, some of the regional offices of Citi’s Corporate Bank, including the nearly 150-person team in China, had already demonstrated the bank’s operational resiliency and ability to operate remotely starting as early as January. As the global economic situation worsened, the Corporate Bank took the responsibility for working with clients to ensure they had the resources, information and liquidity to endure an extended period of disruption.

With an unmatched view of global industries in all regions, Citi was able to provide critical new credit facilities to clients around the world and also ensure that their core services, including critical cash management and markets operations, continued to function despite teams working from home. At the height of the disruption, the global team set up a daily transaction review forum to ensure the bank’s ability to respond as efficiently as possible to client requests. Working collaboratively with product partners across the bank enabled Citi to help clients across capital markets, strengthen supplier finance arrangements and think through potential economic scenarios for their own forward planning. Citi made use of digital technology, some of which was developed in real time, to enable clients to execute documents, open new accounts and manage cash completely remotely.

During this period, Citi syndicated approximately 350 loans with volume in excess of $550 billion, while being the number two bond underwriter, supporting our clients with $1.4 trillion in bond proceeds. Our capital strength has enabled Citi to fund our clients’ revolver draws while capturing significant share in customer deposits. Recently we partnered with clients to expedite payments and foreign exchange rates to enable them to provide better B2C experiences for their end customers, as we continue to focus on supporting our clients with solutions to resolve challenges.

GF: What is the outlook for corporate banking in 2021?

Rekate: 2021 will be one of the most important years for our clients in recent memory as they recover from the Covid-19 disruptions. Citi’s plan is to take full advantage of our strong local presences to ensure maximum client connectivity even before the world gets back to more normalized patterns of travel. The bank will continue to make new investments in digital offerings to provide clients with best-in-class solutions for balance sheet and liquidity management and will look to assist multinational companies to strengthen—and where needed, rebuild—their supply chains with working capital solutions. Liquidity will continue to be critical, given continued uncertainty, and our corporate bankers will be armed with the ability to help clients access both capital markets and loan and trade credit facilities.

When the novel coronavirus spread worldwide earlier this year, the global banking system was generally well capitalized and in good fundamental health. Financial institutions responded quickly and continued to provide services with minimal interruption. In many cases, banks went beyond what was required of them to extend payment deadlines and distribute financial aid on behalf of governments.

DBS Bank, which takes the top honor in Global Finance’s World’s Best Banks 2020 awards, was exemplary in this respect; it was ready for the sharp rise in demand for digital banking services during the pandemic. Over the past decade, the Singapore-based institution has invested heavily in all things digital and created an inclusive and efficient banking culture. Those investments are paying off at a time of economic uncertainty and increased credit risks, strengthening the bank’s resilience and helping it step up at a time of heightened customer need.

DBS and other winners of the World’s Best Banks 2020 awards were selected based on performance over the past year and other criteria, including their reputation, management excellence and leadership in digital transformation and social responsiveness. In the early days of the virus, DBS stepped up by quickly rolling out an app that enables business customers to submit trade documents without visiting a branch. Liquidity remained ample as DBS benefited from flight-to-quality inflows, and the bank actively participated in the Singapore government’s credit-relief programs.

Uncertain Future

DBS will face many of the same headwinds over the coming months as do other institutions in every part of the world. Interest rates remain low or even negative, depressing interest income; and government aid programs are beginning to expire. Rating agencies have unanimously turned negative on the banking industry since the onset of the pandemic; the proportion of Negative Outlook and Rating Watch Negative pronouncements from Fitch Ratings shot up to over 60% at the end of the first half of 2020 from 13% at the end of last year. Fitch assigned virtually no assessments of Positive Outlook or Rating Watch Positive.

The outlook is bleakest in Latin America, Fitch finds, in part reflecting lower sovereign ratings in the region. Somewhat brighter skies prevail in the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe and the Asia-Pacific, where banks receive more government and institutional support.

“Despite the negative outlook bias on bank ratings,” says Emmanuel Volland, global financial institutions sector lead and senior editor at S&P Global Ratings, in an agency statement, “strengthened balance sheets, massive support from authorities to household and corporate markets, and our base case of a sustained economic recovery will limit bank downgrades this year.” “Central banks’ responses are positive for funding but pressure banks’ interest margins,” he warns. “What’s more, repercussions from the pandemic will likely accelerate bank digitization, trigger another round of restructuring, and push consolidation.”

The full extent of credit losses “will become clearer when fiscal support from governments unwinds and banks end their loan repayment moratoriums,” S&P Global Ratings says. More so than in any other region in Europe, Banks in the UK are bulking up reserves for loan losses at an alarming rate, more than those in any other European region, suggesting a weakening economy could be on the horizon for the country, Fitch said.

In the US, banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported lower earnings and strong loan growth in the first quarter of 2020.

“The banking industry has been a source of strength for the economy in the first quarter despite unexpected shocks,” says Jelena McWilliams, FDIC chair, in an agency statement. “Although bank earnings were negatively affected by increases in loan loss provisions, banks effectively supported individuals and businesses during this downturn through lending and other critical financial services.”

First-quarter net income at the 5,116 FDIC-insured institutions declined 69.6% from the same period a year earlier, to $18.5 billion. Bank capital and liquidity levels remained strong, and asset quality was stable. The number of banks on the FDIC’s problem bank list rose to 54 from 51, the first quarterly increase since 2011.

With the World’s Best Banks awards, Global Finance recognizes institutions that are doing the most to help their clients successfully navigate a world in flux while getting the most out of their resources. Along with the Best Bank in the World, global honors include Best Corporate Bank; Best Consumer Bank; best banks worldwide in emerging and frontier markets, and in derivatives; Best Bank for Sustainable Finance; Best SME Bank; and Best Transaction Bank; along with the Best Subcustodian Bank. All are being announced here for the first time. Previously announced honors include Best Islamic Financial Institution, Best Investment Bank, Best Cash Management Bank, Best Trade Finance Provider, Best Supply Chain Finance Provider, Best Foreign Exchange Provider and Best Private Bank.

BEST BANK IN THE WORLD

The largest bank in Southeast Asia, DBS is Global Finance’s 2020 Best Bank in the World. Establishing a core competence in technology, DBS has taken the lead in the digital transformation that is reshaping the world of banking and finance. The Covid-19 pandemic has made clear the pivotal role technology will play going forward, giving DBS an important competitive advantage.

DBS has taken savings from its earlier technological advances and reinvested them in more technology. The aim is to make banking all but seamless so corporations can concentrate on what they do best: running a business.

In the difficult operating environment of the first half of 2020, DBS’ profit before allowances rose 12% from the same period a year earlier to a record $3.5 billion. However, it raised total allowances fivefold to fortify the balance sheet against risks arising from the pandemic, pushing headline earnings down 26%.

“The strong operating performance we reported amidst severe macroeconomic headwinds in the first half attests to the resilience of our franchise,” says CEO Piyush Gupta. “Our solid balance sheet was further fortified by the significant increase in allowance reserves, strong liquidity inflows and healthy earnings. Notwithstanding the uncertainties, we are in a good position to continue supporting customers and the community through the difficult months ahead of us.”

—Piyush Gupta, CEO

www.dbs.com

Read: Q&A with Piyush Gupta, DBS Group CEO. 

BEST CORPORATE BANK

Citi

Citi takes the honor as 2020 Best Corporate Bank globally. Revenue from fixed-income markets and investment banking helped offset the effects of a decline in global consumer banking revenues so far this year. However, the bank’s second-quarter earnings of $1.3 billion were down 73% from a year earlier due to a higher allowance for credit loss reserves related to the pandemic recession. Revenues rose 5%, with markets and securities revenue up 48% to $6.9 billion.

“The Institutional Clients Group [fixed-income trading and investment banking] had an exceptional quarter, marked by an increase in fixed income of 68%,” says Michael Corbat, CEO. “Global consumer banking revenues were down, as spending slowed significantly due to the pandemic.”

Citi’s strength in transaction banking, foreign exchange and payment services combines with its cover-the-world network to make it a lifesaver for companies doing business globally. Citi united its corporate and investment banking teams with its capital markets teams two years ago, and the move is producing results. The result is a truly global universal bank with a solid corporate and investment banking franchise.

—Michael Corbat, CEO

www.citigroup.com

Read: Q&A with Jason Rekate, Citi Global Head Of Corporate Banking 

BEST CONSUMER BANK

The primary institution for nearly a quarter of all Spaniards, CaixaBank is 2020 Best Consumer Bank globally. Thanks in part to innovations like imaginBank, Spain’s first mobile-only bank, it has achieved a 30% market penetration among digital clients. CaixaBank continued to gain market share across key segments last year, including mutual funds and savings, which saw assets under management grow 6.3%; and pension plans, which posted 14.7% growth.

Loans and deposits climbed 4.7% in 2019, and proactive management helped reduce nonperforming loans (NPLs); CaixaBank’s NPL ratio fell more than a full percentage point to 3.6%. Underlying group earnings climbed 20.4%, with a 10.8% return on equity. After adjusting for a labor agreement, however, the bank’s net profit came in 14% lower than a year earlier.

Commenting on the results, CEO Gonzalo Gortázar highlighted the bank’s “digital transformation, with improvement in internal processes and in digital channels to accompany the clients whenever and wherever they are,” alongside the “strengthening of our capital and liquidity position.”

CaixaBank’s net profit in the first half of 2020 fell 67% from the same period a year earlier as loan-loss charges increased to cover the future economic impact of the pandemic and the economic shutdown, which have hit Spain hard. The bank has continued to lend to businesses and individuals and continues to support those sectors most affected by the crisis.

—Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO

www.caixabank.com

Read: Q&A with Gonzalo Gortázar, CaixaBank CEO  

BEST EMERGING MARKETS BANK

Commercial International Bank (CIB), 2020 Best Emerging Markets Bank, is leading the digital banking transformation in Egypt, using technological innovation to drive financial inclusion. Seeing strong potential in Sub-Saharan Africa, CIB acquired a majority stake in what is now Mayfair CIB Bank in Kenya this year. Eastern Africa is an important market for CIB, acting as a bridge for trade between Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa. Trade agreements, such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), make member countries more-attractive trading partners for an institution aiming to expand geographically.

“CIB’s expertise and local coverage make us the right financial partner for companies looking to grow their businesses across Africa,” says Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, chairman and managing director. “CIB is Egypt’s banking leader for consumers, SMEs [small to mid-size enterprises] and large institutional corporations needing channels to grow Egyptian exports.”

—Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, chairman and managing director

www.cibeg.com

BEST FRONTIER MARKETS BANK

Arab Bank, 2020 Best Frontier Markets Bank as well as Best Bank in the Middle East, has played an important role in improving the economies and communities in which it operates, including its home market of Jordan. Last year marked the 10th anniversary of Together, Arab Bank’s corporate social responsibility program, which has helped more than 1.25 million people across Jordan with the support of the bank’s employees and customers. Arab Bank also supports and finances strategic projects in the region that develop the economic capacity of the Arab world.

The bank recently introduced contactless technology across a wide group of ATMs in Jordan in an effort to increase safety and convenience during the pandemic. It is also continuing to improve its comprehensive digital banking services. The bank also has developed a code of conduct requiring suppliers to conduct their business in alignment with its ethical standards; included are clauses relating to employment, health and safety, and environmental standards.

Arab Bank’s first-half 2020 earnings dropped precipitously, to $152 million from $453 million a year earlier, as it boosted provisions for potential bad loans. The additional provisions meant that buffers held against nonperforming loans continue to exceed 100%. Customer deposits rose 5% while loans grew 2%. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio was 16.8%.

—Nemeh Sabbagh, CEO

www.arabbank.com

BEST DERIVATIVES BANK

Société Générale takes honors as 2020 Best Derivatives Bank globally as well as the Best Bank for Equity Derivatives. Last year, the French bank reached an agreement to acquire the equity markets and commodities business of Commerzbank, which is an originator, distributor and market-maker in structured and flow products as well as asset management solutions.

In equity derivatives, “we went from being number one in structured products to an even stronger number one,” says Alexandre Fleury, head of equities and equity derivatives for global markets.

Innovation and new-product creation have driven Société Générale’s growth and solidified its status, says Fleury. One unique instance last year was the introduction of a philanthropic component whereby clients can make charitable donations each time a trade occurs.

“That has proven to be extremely successful with our private banking clients,” Fleury says. “We were also the first ones to get approvals for an environmental, social and governance index that we could have in retail distribution of structured projects.”

—Alexandre Fleury, head of Equities and Equity Derivatives for Global Markets

www.societegenerale.com

BEST BANK FOR SUSTAINABLE FINANCE

BNP Paribas, 2020 Best Bank for Sustainable Finance, has acted as sustainability coordinator or structuring agent for numerous sustainable-finance transactions and underwritten many green bond issues. BNP Paribas also holds the title for Global Finance’s Best Trade Finance Provider–Bank. In February, it closed a sustainability-linked loan (SLL) with JetBlue Airways through an amendment to its revolving credit facility. It also closed the first sustainability-linked syndicated credit facility in Canada with WSP Global, a professional-services firm. Also in Canada, BNP Paribas closed a bilateral, incentive-linked corporate revolving credit facility with Brookfield Renewable Partners.

Expanding the structure geographically, BNP Paribas closed its first SLL in Latin America in August: a $100 million syndicated revolving credit facility with Empresas CMPC, a Chilean pulp and paper company. The bank acted as joint lead arranger and sole sustainability coordinator and will be the administrative agent for the facility, which includes environmental sustainability performance targets for greenhouse gas emissions, industrial water use, industrial waste, and conservation and restoration.

—Alexandra Basirov, global head of sustainable finance

www.bnpparibas.com

BEST SME BANK

A leader among international financial institutions using guarantee funds to finance small and midsize enterprises (SMEs), disbursing more than $3.5 billion to 20,000 businesses last year, UniCredit is 2020 Best SME Bank. This past summer, it entered into a Covid-19 support package offered by the European Investment Fund (EIF), allowing the bank to provide working capital loans to SMEs in Central and Eastern Europe guaranteed at a rate of 80% under simplified eligibility criteria. UniCredit is using the package to provide support for companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Also this year, UniCredit and the Eropean EIF, part of the European Investment Bank Group,  agreed to provide $237 million each in financing to support the digitization of Italian SMEs. And in June, UniCredit signed the first $18 million tranche of financing to help SMEs in Serbia improve the social impact of their businesses.

“To do well, we also have to do good,” says CEO Jean Pierre Mustier. “At UniCredit, all our actions are guided by clear value, such as the importance of actively supporting our communities. Thanks to our Social Impact Banking initiative, we make investments that have a positive impact on society.”

—Jean Pierre Mustier, CEO

www.unicreditgroup.eu

BEST GLOBAL TRANSACTION BANK

Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) offers integrated cash management and trade finance services, helping corporations maximize their liquidity from operations around the world with virtual accounts and cross-currency sweeps and earning the bank recognition as 2020 Best Global Transaction Bank. Citi has continued to invest in technology to support innovation and efficiency in TTS, including direct connections to clients’ treasury workstations and systems to speed payments and receivables.

With its market-leading global network, Citi is able to capture clients’ end-to-end cross-border trade flows. Along with electronic trade loans and distribution or sales finance, its data analytics offerings provide insights aimed at adding value at each stage of the transaction life cycle.

—Naveed Sultan, global head, Treasury and Trade Solutions

www.citi.com

BEST SUB-CUSTODIAN BANK

Citi’s consistently high level of service and the breadth of its proprietary network—the largest in the industry—earns it recognition as 2020 Best Subcustodian Bank globally as well as in Latin America and the US. It continues to expand its service geographically. In August, it began offering direct custody and clearing (DCC) services in Finland, making it the only international bank offering DCC services to the entire Nordic region. In September, it became the first US bank to receive a fund custody license in China.

Citi has deep custody expertise in Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Panama. It introduced several service enhancements in the region last year, including a change in Swift messaging in Chile and Peru to facilitate cash and reconciliation processes for clients, while Citibanamex automated processing of tax credits for corporate bonds in Mexico. Supporting its Latin America regional award, at the country level Citi earned top subcustodian honors in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. It was recently selected to provide custody and tax services to Peru’s Cavali, the central securities depository for the Lima Stock Exchange, with responsibility for $6 billion of dual-listed securities.

Altogether, Citi had $21.5 trillion of assets under custody and administration at the end of the first quarter.

—Sanjiv Sawhney, global head of Custody and Fund Services

www.citibank.com

BEST ISLAMIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTION

Islamic financial institutions enjoyed good earnings results in 2019 across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, as growing asset bases and strong demand for financing drove increased net profit. Kuwait Finance House (KFH), 2020 Best Islamic Financial Institution, has established a growing Islamic fund management operation through its investment arm, KFH Capital Investment. One of its main offerings, the KFH Capital Sukuk Fund, was a standout performer in 2019.

KFH Takaful is showing strong momentum in the expanding Islamic insurance market. The creation of a new app and website boosted customer demand, in part by simplifying access to the bank’s wide range of insurance products, including housing and travel plans. KFH Takaful’s medical insurance line also recorded good growth in 2019, and the bank is active in reinsurance as well.

—Ahmad Saud Al-Kharji, CEO

www.kfh.com

BEST INVESTMENT BANK

Honors as 2020 Best Investment Bank go to J.P. Morgan, a repeat winner. The bank stands out for its size as well as for innovation and reach across markets. According to Dealogic, revenue-banking share for J.P. Morgan in the Americas grew 11.5% last year to $4.5 billion.

“Capital has gone up from $62 billion to $80 billion in the last five years,” says Daniel Pinto, co-COO and the CEO of J.P. Morgan’s Corporate and Investment Bank and CEO of its Corporate & Investment Bank, “but 90% of the increase is related to methodology changes and higher capitalization, with only 10% of it related to new business initiatives.”

J.P. Morgan has gained market share in global investment banking over four consecutive years, even though the industry wallet has remained flat, ranking first in both debt and equity capital management. It participated in all of the top five fee-paying deals in 2019 and was an adviser to Saudi Aramco for its $69.1 billion purchase of Saudi Basic Industries in June.

—Daniel Pinto, co-COO and CEO, Corporate and Investment Bank

www.jpmorgan.com

BEST CASH MANAGEMENT BANK

The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the need for corporate treasurers to gain greater visibility and control of their cash. “One of the perennial challenges for treasury has been accurate cash forecasting,” says Ricky Kaura, head of transaction banking, East Asia, at Standard Chartered, 2020 Best Cash Management Bank. “This pain point is highlighted repeatedly in our discussions as well as external benchmarking studies. The introduction of real-time digital payment platforms across Asia-Pacific is changing the landscape and facilitating the reengineering of cash and treasury management processes.”

Adoption of application programming interfaces (APIs) has accelerated throughout the region, he notes. Real-time cash movement is allowing Standard Chartered’s corporate clients to connect directly to their underlying consumers, and many business-to-customer solutions and use cases are developing.

“APIs make it easier to integrate across disparate technology interfaces and enhance the speed at which integration can take place,” says Lisa Robins, the bank’s global head of transaction banking. “A library of APIs for different use cases allows corporate treasurers to pick and choose what they need and accelerates the delivery of new capabilities.”

—Lisa Robins, global head of transaction banking

www.sc.com

BEST TRADE FINANCE PROVIDER—BANK

More than 40,000 corporations worldwide rely on BNP Paribas, 2020 Best Trade Finance Provider—Bank, for trade-related advice and operating capabilities, including customized solutions to optimize working capital. The French bank operates more than 100 trade centers in 60 countries to serve as corporate entry points for all client trade needs. Centric, the bank’s client platform for treasury operations, provides access to all of the bank’s services, including trade finance, supply chain and cash management.

BNP Paribas’ dedicated trade centers are staffed by 350 multilingual trade experts. An additional 1,200 middle- and back-office employees complete the bank’s trade team, which handles 14 million trade-related transactions annually. BNP Paribas is one of the founding members of Voltron, the open platform for documentary trade; and in 2018 it entered into a partnership with Cashforce, a fintech, to offer digital cash flow forecasting and working capital services to corporate treasurers.

—Vincent Davignon, head of trade expertise and regulatory affairs

www.bnpparibas.com

BEST TRADE FINANCE PROVIDER—NONBANK

With a raft of nonbank providers entering the bank-dominated trade finance industry, the editors thought it was time to acknowledge these relative newcomers’ contribution to one of the oldest businesses in banking. For the first time, we are awarding a nonbank provider a top honor in Global Finance’s 2020 Best Trade Finance Provider—Nonbank. Is this also the first time a nonbank provider has been given this award.

Tradeteq is a London-based marketplace that uses machine learning and nontraditional data sets to help institutional investors build better-informed risk models and credit-scoring tools for investing in and monitoring portfolios of trade finance assets. Tradeteq’s objective is to increase participation by pension funds and insurance companies in this growing asset class and turn trade finance assets into investment products with a positive knock-on effect on capital-markets liquidity. It’s a timely goal. In 2016, the Asian Development Bank identified a $1.5 trillion trade financing gap in Asian developing markets alone, creating a larger role for new providers who can attract new classes of investors.

—Christoph Gugelmann, CEO

www.tradeteq.com

BEST SUPPLY CHAIN FINANCE PROVIDER—BANK

Citi, 2020 Best Supply Chain Provider—Bank, maintains an on-the-ground presence in numerous markets. With more than 15 years of experience structuring supply chain finance (SCF) programs, its local-market knowledge has made it invaluable to corporate clients. It continues to invest in its proprietary Citi Supplier Finance platform, which it recently integrated with its WorldLink Payment Services cross-currency platform, enabling clients to select multiple major currencies for settlement.

Citi was also one of the first providers to realize the potential of trade as an asset class in its own right; its trade asset distribution model taps into a global network of investors that support the growth of companies’ SCF programs.

—Naveed Sultan, global head, Treasury and Trade Solutions

www.citibank.com

BEST SUPPLY CHAIN FINANCE PROVIDER—NONBANK

The market for trade and supply chain finance has witnessed a flurry of new entrants in recent years. One provider that has stood the test of time is Orbian, originally founded in 1999 by SAP and Citibank and 2020 Best Supply Chain Finance Provider—Nonbank. In 2019, Orbian managed 100-plus buyer-led SCF programs with more than 5,000 suppliers enrolled. It funds the programs through multiple banks and prides itself on the simplicity of its supplier-enrollment process.

Orbian’s e-card, which received Global Finance’s Innovator award in the Corporate Finance category in 2019, provides early liquidity to suppliers of all sizes, not just those with the largest procurement volumes.

—Thomas Dunn, chairman

www.orbian.com

BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE PROVIDER

Citi’s unmatched global reach, technological capabilities and experienced staff of currency experts, traders and analysts earns it the honor of 2020 Best Foreign Exchange Provider. Citi has long commanded a significant share of the $6.6 trillion-a-day foreign exchange (FX) market. It trades more than 140 currencies from FX desks in 83 countries, serving a broad range of clients, and is the top FX dealer to global corporations.

The bank has invested heavily in electronic platforms, which now account for the bulk of its FX trading. It offers a wide range of derivative products, including highly customized options, to help corporate clients manage their worldwide exposures. It also provides liquidity in difficult markets and conditions, and it helps ease the trading experience in emerging markets that often have complex payments and regulatory reporting infrastructures. The CitiFX Pulse platform offers corporations real-time, end-to-end visibility on fund transfers by way of connectivity with the Swift gpi solution.

—Itay Tuchman, global head of FX

www.citifx.com

BEST PRIVATE BANK

J.P. Morgan Private Bank, 2020 Best Private Bank, benefits from the large feeder pool of prospective clients supplied by its retail/corporate partner, JPMorgan Chase; the bulge-bracket investment bank goes into action deploying fortunes already made.

“There is no client too big or too small,” says Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset and Wealth Management. “The complexity of what we do for you changes with the size and scope of your wealth.”

Despite the turbulence wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis, Erdoes notes, the rich continue to get richer around the globe, building business for private banks. “The number of millionaires and billionaires continues to double all over the world as people invest and create new things,” she says. Soon, that could become a source of political risk for private bankers; but for now, it’s boosting business.

—Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO, J.P. Morgan Asset and Wealth Management

www.jpmorgan.com

BEST BANK IN NORTH AMERICA

Bank of America (BofA), 2020 Best Bank in North America, boasts relationships with 95% of the US Fortune 100 companies and is the nation’s leading small-business lender. BofA is also a leading dealer in foreign exchange, derivatives, electronic trading and payment services. In addition, its investment bank offers one of the top market-making platforms.

BofA is also a leader in automation. It completed more than $3 billion in new technology-code initiatives last year, according to Brian Moynihan, CEO and chairman; and it surpassed 10 million clients by the end of 2019 using Erica, its virtual financial assistant for consumers. “We also delivered for shareholders in 2019 by returning a record $3.4 billion in excess capital through dividends and share repurchases,” Moynihan says. BofA and other large US banks halted share buybacks in March to conserve capital needed to support clients during the Covid-19 crisis.

—Brian Moynihan, CEO and chairman

www.bankofamerica.com

BEST BANK IN LATIN AMERICA

Santander takes 2020 Best Bank in Latin America on its reinvention through technological initiatives, innovative programs and strategic investments in services for its retail, corporate and small to midsize enterprise (SME) customers. Santander Global Platform, which accelerates innovation with digital capabilities, includes Superdigital, the bank’s online financial inclusion platform for individuals and small merchants. It is now available in Brazil, Mexico and Chile, with rollout slated to reach Argentina and three other markets by 2023.

Last November, Santander invested $350 million ($452.1 million) in a majority stake in Ebury, a foreign exchange platform for SMEs that currently operates in 19 countries and 140 currencies. Santander plans to expand the platform to the bank’s Latin American markets. Santander’s global merchant services help SMEs grow by broadening payment capabilities for retailers through Getnet, a merchant payment-processing platform. Santander has been rolling out the platform in Mexico and its other Latin American markets this year. One Pay FX, Santander’s blockchain-based global payments system for SMEs, was expanded to Mexico in March.

—Jose Antonio Alvarez, vice chairman and CEO

www.santander.com

BEST BANK IN WESTERN EUROPE

CaixaBank repeats in 2020 as Best Bank in Western Europe, on the strength of its position as the most successful retail lender in the Iberian Peninsula and a leading exponent of customer-friendly digital innovation. It extended its leadership across key market segments last year and increased its underlying earnings while further reducing its nonperforming loans and strengthening capital buffers.

Caixa’s home market, Spain, was the hardest hit by Covid-19 among European countries. “Now more than ever, the banking sector is proving necessary in times of need to sustain the economy, help companies keep their operations up and running and support families in a vulnerable situation,” says CEO Gonzalo Gortázar. “It is now when our growth levers take on their true meaning for us.”

In March, the bank launched an initiative to curb the economic effects of the coronavirus. “We offered a €25 billion [$29.6 billion at today’s rate] facility of preapproved loans to 440,000 self-employed workers, 115,000 microenterprises and 52,000 small enterprises,” says Gortázar, “and we deployed a wide range of initiatives to stand by the elderly, homeowners, small retailers, vulnerable families, our employees, health care personnel and society as a whole.”

—Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO

www.caixabank.com

BEST BANK IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

“The economic impact of Covid-19 will be very serious,” says Johann Strobl, CEO of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), 2020 Best Bank in Central and Eastern Europe, “but we are well prepared, both for the economic downturn and for a quick response once the environment changes for the better again.”

RBI has the broadest and oldest CEE presence of any privately owned financial institution and entered 2020 in a strong position. Last year, the Vienna-based bank expanded its overall lending 13%, focusing on Central Europe, Russia and larger corporate clients serviced by the head office. Only 2.1% of its loans were nonperforming at the end of 2019; however, the bank’s coverage ratio for bad loans stood at 61% after it took on a higher charge for impairments. That fed the bottom line, leaving pretax profit just 1% higher but with stronger capital buffers that raised the bank’s tier-one capital ratio to 15.4%.

Digitization continues to occupy the forefront of RBI’s strategic vision. “Our focus during the past year has been on innovation and the resulting improvement in customer value,” Strobl says. “We started cooperating with fintechs, strengthened our internal innovation power and further developed RBI as an adaptive organization.”

—Johann Strobl, CEO

www.rbinternational.com

BEST BANK IN ASIA-PACIFIC

DBS, Best Bank in Asia-Pacific as well as this year’s Best Bank in the World, unambiguously retains its elite status. Return on equity was 13.2% in 2019, thanks to a 14% net profit increase of $4.5 billion—both record numbers for the bank—and 1% trimmed off cost-income ratio.

DBS touts a transformational culture with respect to both digitization and ESG goals. Use of its PayLah! mobile payment app surged in 2019; the bank launched a financing facility in China based on a logistics blockchain platform; and it introduced digiPortfolio, a hybrid human-robot investment solution. DBS continued to tick the ESG boxes with its ongoing focus on gender diversity, employee engagement and a responsible banking framework that directs capital flows to projects that build sustainability.

—Piyush Gupta, CEO

www.dbs.com

BEST BANK IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Arab Bank’s deep knowledge of the region, prudent approach to banking and well-diversified income streams earned it the title 2020 Best Bank in the Middle East. It also takes the country awards for Jordan and Yemen. Arab Bank reported earnings rising 3.2% to $846.5 million in 2019 while maintaining the quality of its credit portfolio with loan-loss provisions exceeding 100%.

“Arab Bank enjoys a distinctive presence across the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region,” says CEO Nemeh Sabbagh.  We are deeply rooted in all the Arab countries, where we operate as a local bank as opposed to a branch of a foreign bank.”

With a network of more than 600 branches, Arab Bank obtains more than 70% of its income outside of Jordan. The coronavirus outbreak poses “an unprecedented challenge and a very serious threat at all levels and across all geographies,” Sabbagh says. “As a leading regional financial institution, we are deploying the resources and capabilities needed to protect our employees, our customers and the communities in which we operate.”

—Nemeh Sabbagh, CEO

www.arabbank.com

BEST BANK IN AFRICA

Standard Bank is moving forward with its technological transformation amid the pandemic. Africa’s largest banking group, with a presence in 20 sub-Saharan countries and 1,200 branches, the group’s strong capital and liquidity positions going into the crisis allowed it to provide $9.85 billion of temporary relief to customers and clients without constraining its ability to lend to existing and new customers and clients or support new projects.

“During this time, we have remained steadfast in support of our clients, our employees and the communities in the countries we operate in,” says Group CEO Sim Tshabalala.

In June, Standard Bank signed an extended agreement with Salesforce to deliver digital experiences to its customers through a client-centered platform powered by Microsoft and Amazon Web Services’ cloud capabilities.

“We don’t want to be the shop, we want to be the mall,” Tshabalala says.

—Sim Tshabalala, group CEO

www.standardbank.com

Citi