Best Banks by Region 2013

Global Finance Announces the Best Banks by Region 2013

NEW YORK, March 20, 2013 – Global Finance magazine has announced its annual awards for the World's Best Banks in Developed and Emerging Markets. The list of regional winners is on the next page. A full report on the regional and country selections will appear in the May issue of Global Finance .

This is the twentieth year that the magazine has selected top banks by country and region. The report covers best banks in North America, Latin America, Western Europe, the Nordic Region, Central & Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. The editors of Global Finance made the selections after extensive consultations with corporate financial executives, bankers, and analysts throughout the world. In selecting these top banks, editors considered factors that range from the quantitative objective to the informed subjective.

Criteria for choosing the winners included growth in assets, profitability, strategic relationships, customer service, competitive pricing, and innovative products. Subjective criteria included the opinions of equity analysts, credit rating analysts, banking consultants and others involved in the industry. The mix of these factors yields leading banks that may not be the largest, the oldest or the most diversified in a given region, but rather the best—the banks with which companies around the world would most likely want to do business.

"This year's winning banks have one thing in common, a focus on responding to the needs of their customers," says Global Finance's publisher, Joseph D. Giarraputo. "Specific market conditions certainly vary from region to region, and overall conditions for the global financial market remain difficult. These banks are being recognized for outstanding accomplishments in the face of adversity."

AWARDS CEREMONY:

An Awards Ceremony for all winners will be conducted at the same time as the World Bank/IMF Meetings on the morning of Saturday, October 12, 2013 at The National Press Club in Washington, DC.

For more information on the awards and/or ceremony please contact: Katharine Frey, email: kfrey@gfmag.com