Home AWARDS The International Banker 2017 Asia & Australasia Awards Winners

The International Banker 2017 Asia & Australasia Awards Winners

by internationalbanker

There appears to be fresh optimism surrounding China’s banking sector, especially after Moody’s Investors Service upgraded its outlook from negative to stable on July 27, which marks the first revision the ratings agency has made in two years. The move is largely the result of the stabilisation of bad debt levels, which the banking sector achieved following consistent quarters of rising nonperforming loans (NPLs). China’s government has adopted several measures to reverse the trend of mounting bad debt, such as debt-to-equity swaps and NPL transfers. Beijing’s recent efforts to crack down on shadow banking have also been well received.

The heightened optimism is additionally supported by the recently released annual report from the China Banking Association (CBA). The report observes that the growth of outstanding nonperforming loans of Chinese lenders eased in 2016, as did their NPL ratios; indeed, some even experienced reductions in their NPL ratios. Commercial banks have also managed to lend more money to small and micro businesses, as well as provide more individual housing loans, while reducing their exposure to those industries suffering from overcapacity. For this year and next, therefore, China’s banking sector is now expected to grow steadily, with NPL ratios modestly declining.

The outlook also appears to be improving slightly for Japan’s lenders after they mostly turned in positive earnings for the April-June quarter. Three of the country’s five biggest banking groups reported an increase in net profits for the period, thanks mainly to gains in trading operations and investment product sales, which outweighed losses in lending income. The biggest lender, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, managed to record a whopping 53-percent rise in net profit, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group achieved a net-profit rise of 31.1 percent.

India’s banks continue to be weighed down by the substantial pile of bad loans on their books. With the banking sector’s total ratio of nonperforming assets currently standing at 9.6 percent, lenders are struggling to expand lending. The situation is particularly problematic at public-sector banks, at which the rate of bad loans they wrote off during the financial year ended March 2017 came in at an alarming 41 percent higher than the previous year’s. While such write-offs have been consistently rising during the last few years, banks’ overall profitability has plunged during the same period.

Second-quarter earnings for Singaporean banks were recently announced, and it appears that the Southeast Asian nation’s banking sector is now over the worst of its problems. Results have indicated that loan growth was solid, income from wealth-management activity expanded, and there was a reduction in the level of new bad loans during the three-month period.

While Australia’s major lenders continue generating solid earnings growth, much of the recent focus has surrounded issues pertaining to the conduct of its biggest mortgage lender, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). Despite notching up annual profits of A$9.88 billion, 4.6 percent higher than the previous year and the eighth consecutive year of record profits, the CBA is facing legal action over its failure to comply with Australia’s anti-money-laundering laws. The Australian government’s Treasurer Scott Morrison has made clear that the government has put all options on the table in order to deal with the CBA failure, although he has ruled out implementing a broader royal commission into the banking sector.

Elsewhere, mortgage lending continues to provide a boon for Australian banks. For instance, an increase in National Australia Bank’s mortgage rate has boosted the lender’s third-quarter cash profit by 5 percent to $1.7 billion.

New Zealand, meanwhile, has seen a modest 2.85 percent dip in quarterly profits after tax for the three months to March, from $1.24 billion to $1.2 billion, which reverses the previous quarter’s gains. According to KPMG’s analysis for the quarter to March, New Zealand’s nine banks recorded a dip as borrowing money from overseas became more costly and interest income contracted for the bigger banks, while shrinking margins impacted the country’s smaller lenders. A reduction in both net-interest income and non-interest income (with impaired asset expenses increasing) also played their parts.

 

 >>>ASIA AWARD WINNERS  

 

               BANKING CEO OF THE YEAR                  
Asia
Wee Ee Cheong

United Overseas Bank (Singapore)

**********

BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE
PROVIDER OF THE YEAR

Asia
Krungthai Bank (Thailand)

**********

Best Banking Group China
CCB Group

Best Banking Group India
ICICI

Best Banking Group Japan
Mizuho Financial Group

Best Banking Group Taiwan
Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding

Best Investment Bank Of The Year China
Bank of China

Best Investment Bank Of The Year India
Kotak Mahindra Capital

Best Investment Bank Of The Year Japan
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

Best Investment Bank Of The Year South Korea
Mirae Asset Daewoo

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year Bangladesh
Dhaka Bank

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year China
Bank of China

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year India
Punjab National Bank

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year Japan
Mizuho Bank

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year Malaysia
Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year Pakistan
United Bank

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year Philippines
UnionBank of the Philippines

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year South Korea
Woori Bank

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year Sri Lanka
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year Taiwan
Mega ICBC

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year Thailand
Kasikorn Bank

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year Vietnam
VPBank

Best Private Bank Of The Year China
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

Best Private Bank Of The Year India
Kotak

Best Private Bank Of The Year Singapore
United Overseas Bank

Best Private Bank Of The Year South Korea
KEB Hana

Best Innovation In Retail Banking Bangladesh
Midland Bank

Best Innovation In Retail Banking China
China Construction Bank

Best Innovation In Retail Banking India
HDFC Bank

Best Innovation In Retail Banking Japan
Shinsei Bank

Best Innovation In Retail Banking Malaysia
Hong Leong Bank

Best Innovation In Retail Banking Philippines
UnionBank of the Philippines

Best Innovation In Retail Banking Singapore
DBS Bank

Best Innovation In Retail Banking South Korea
Woori Bank

Best Innovation In Retail Banking Sri Lanka
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC

Best Innovation In Retail Banking Taiwan
Taiwan Cooperative Bank

Best Innovation In Retail Banking Thailand
Krungthai Bank

Best Innovation In Retail Banking Vietnam
Asia Commercial Bank

Best Islamic Bank Of The Year Bangladesh
City Bank

Best Islamic Bank Of The Year Indonesia
BRISyariah

Best Islamic Bank Of The Year Malaysia
Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad

Best Islamic Bank Of The Year Pakistan
Meezan Bank

 

 

 

 >>>AUSTRALASIA AWARD WINNERS  

 

BANKING CEO OF THE YEAR
Australasia
Brian Hartzer

Westpac (Australia)

**********

BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE
PROVIDER OF THE YEAR

Australasia
National Australia Bank

**********

Best Investment Bank Of The Year Australia
Macquarie Group

Best Investment Bank Of The Year New Zealand
Forsyth Barr

Best Commercial Bank Of The Year Australia
Westpac

Best Private Bank Of The Year Australia
Westpac Private Bank

Best Innovation In Retail Banking Australia
Bank Australia

Best Innovation In Retail Banking New Zealand
TSB Bank

 

 

 

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