Congratulations to all the winners of the FinanceAsia Awards this year. Once again firms showed great innovation in a wide range of areas from business growth to digital banking to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
In another tough year for financial markets, the winners, from a large pool of entrants, were the firms that managed to show resilience, creativity and investment in the future, with a close eye on protecting their balance sheets and helping clients.
A big thank to you to our judges: Dennis Chia, chief financial officer, StarHub; Douglas Arner, Kerry Holdings professor in law, University of Hong Kong; Gordon Ip, co-chief investment officer, fixed income, Value Partners; Jason Teo, head of treasury, SEA LOGOS Group; Julian Lee, executive director, finance, Hong Kong Airport Authority; Kim Man Wong, chief financial officer, HK Electric Investments; Kok Siong Ng, chief financial officer, Link REIT; Marcus Yeung, chief executive officer, SEAbridge; co-founder, match.asia; Shahrul Azman Mohd Mokhtar, vice president and group treasurer, group treasury division, FGV Holdings; Subhojit Sadhu, Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangalas; Teresa Teague, co-founder and partner, TBB Partners; and Tony Adams, managing director, R66 Capital.
You can see photos from the Awards dinner, and also for Asia's Best Companies Poll 2024, in Hong Kong here.
SOUTHEAST ASIA WINNERS
CLM (CAMBODIA, LAOS, MYANMAR) - DOMESTIC
BEST COMMERCIAL BANK – SMES
Cambodian Public Bank
Amid some challenging years, Cambodian Public Bank (Campu Bank) has had a return to form. Getting busy in the market, gross loans, advances and lending increased by 10% to $1.4 billion at end 2023, while achieving a healthy impaired loan ratio of just 1.4%.
For a country that struggled since Covid took hold, Campu Bank has been proactive, launching the SWIFT-SME Plan which provides access to cheaper financing for SME businesses.
In step, it also joined forces with Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia to launch the Business Recovery Guarantee Scheme, to offer guarantee coverage of 70% - 80% of the loan principal amount to companies who can’t supply enough collateral.
And for those customers that needed more support, Campu Bank offered it. The bank approved $30 million of revised loan terms for 138 customers in 2023.
MOST PROGRESSIVE DEI BANKS
KBZ Bank
In a country reportedly becoming more tolerant of diversity, Myanmar still has yet to legally acknowledge many freedoms most countries have come to accept as normal. It is therefore incumbent on high-profile institutions to play a positive role in promoting inclusion, embracing diversity, and instilling equity into its culture.
KBZ Bank is Myanmar’s largest privately-owned bank with a network of over 500 branches nationwide and a bank that has gone to great lengths to establish diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at the heart of its operations.
Partnering with organisations such as the Business Coalition for Gender Equality, the Valuable 500, and the Asia Gender Network, KBZ Bank has taken the sensible route of learning from international networks to nurture a company-wide culture.
All KBZ Bank’s 13,000+ workforce is trained to support a tolerant and flexible workplace.The bank has also delivered a total of 574,295 training hours, including 120,470 hours through its e-learning platform to make a difference.
INDONESIA - DOMESTIC
BEST BANK; BEST CORPORATE BANK - LARGE CORP & MNCS; BEST SUSTAINABLE BANK; BIGGEST ESG IMPACT - BANKS; MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY - BANKS
Bank Mandiri
In 2023, Bank Mandiri reported consolidated assets worth $141.2 billion. Asset growth reached a compound annual growth rate of 13.3%, making it the highest in Southeast Asia.
The bank expanded its network into the retail domain through 12 regional offices, leveraging its relationships with over 30,000 corporate clients. Bank Mandiri’s extensive distribution network extends to 2,243 branch offices, and 13,000 ATMs.
Importantly, Bank Mandiri remains the biggest lender in the industry, with a market share of 19.7% and growth exceeding the industry average of 16.29%. This achievement contributed to its multi-segment lending approach that includes wholesale, SME, and retail.
A large network is important, and the bank’s overall success ties directly to its 30,000 corporate customers and a retail ecosystem of over 35 million customers.Bank Mandiri’s ability to serve its largest and most influential clients with vital banking services is what makes it stand apart.
Facilitated through its Kopra wholesale platform, treasury and finance departments manage their liquidity, cross-border transactions, FX and payments, with relative ease.
Kopra’s host-to-host facility allows clients to connect to client’s internal ERP systems providing greater visibility and flexibility. Transaction values reached IDR19.1 trillion ($1.15 trillion) in 2023, equivalent, Bank Mandiri said, to the combined transaction values of the three digital wholesale channels of Indonesia’s most highly capitalised banks.
In step, Kopra has driven export-import transactions with its Kopra Trade feature, with transaction values reaching IDR528 trillion and bank guarantee transaction values at IDR104 trillion. This performance established Bank Mandiri as the market leader. In 2023, Bank Mandiri disbursed working capital loans for the value chain totalling IDR75.9 trillion, representing an 18% year-on-year increase.
Despite its reliance on environmentally sensitive sectors such as coal, Indonesia has set aims to for a net-zero status by 2060 at the latest.
It is therefore vital that crucial pillars of Indonesia’s society are on board. As one of the most influential banks in the country, Bank Mandiri plays a vital role in making the transition to net zero a sustainable and just one.
In doing so, it has set clear mandatory requirements for all sectors it operates in, with specific additional conditions for the palm oil, energy, coal, FMCG, mining and construction sectors.
In the case of palm oil, for example, companies need to exhibit no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation policies, which encompass policies related to land clearing, conservation, and waste treatment.
Bank Mandiri joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials to achieve net zero emissions, calculating 18.1 million tCO2e from 44% of its portfolio and has set a net zero target emissions for 2030.
On green operations, it has increased usage of LED lighting, installed 727 solar panels in four buildings, of which one has won an award. It has established water osmosis facilities, reduced paper use by 10.6% and is the first bank to introduce digital carbon tracking.
On social impact, Bank Mandiri has upped its game on supporting micro companies, increased training and support for local farmers, and assisted over 14,000 micro, small and medium enterprises in improving financial literacy and digital marketing.
The bank is also progressing well on gender equality and diversity, with 52% of its workforce being female and 35% with senior positions.
It’s also important to embrace new technology. Especially when it can enhance decision making, improve financial inclusion, profits and deliver a host of ancillary benefits not previously imagined.
Bank Mandiri has proven itself adept at adopting AI-based technology to boost operations. The bank is able to identify new customer and growth opportunities, improve revenue generation, and better manage risk and regulatory compliance.
Within its wholesale platform Kopra, the bank utilises “advanced AI technology” to better improve cash forecasting, facilitate financial decisions such as loan applications or foreign exchange investments.
All of this requires good data. Bank Mandiri’s commitment to leveraging data is reflected in its investment in big data technology, cloud infrastructure and more. The bank manages 200 billion records of data and has 150 data scientists at its disposal.
BEST BANK FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION; BEST COMMERCIAL BANK - SMES
Bank Rakyat Indonesia
Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) understands the unique geography and demographic of Indonesia.
In the creation of its human machine hybrid platform called BRILink Agent, it has found a successful way to apply important social values in the form of community empowerment, financial inclusion, and economic equity, both for its near 741,000 agents and for the businesses and individuals the agents reach, truly improving financial inclusion.
Spread across 61,000 villages, BRILink agents can serve micro, small and mdium enterprises (MSMEs) credit through a loan referral system and can distribute social assistance (Bansos) to communities and can serve savings account openings via a referral system.
Under this business model financial transactions grew 1.72% transactions in 2023 and was accompanied by an increase in BRILink sales volume which reached IDR1,427 trillion ($9 billion) in the same year.
BRI is an expert in the MSME lending market. Nearly 85% of its loan book value is made up of such companies and is worth more than $67 billion.
BRI serves MSMEs through a network of more than 7,000 branches and more than 100,000 employees supporting BRI’s hybrid strategy, which combines physical presence and digital capabilities to also serve ultra-micro and micro customers.
With the support of Indonesia’s Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, BRI’s new ultra-micro initiative promotes financial inclusion.
BRI collaborates strategically with its pawning and group-lending subsidiaries Pegadaian and Permodalan Nasional Madani and uses insights from their combined customer data set to serve a broader spectrum of individuals and enterprises more capably.
It has thus far proved a very effective partnership and justifies its commercial banking prowess.
BEST BROKER
CGS International Sekuritas Indonesia
Despite a broadly difficult year in trading, CGS International Sekuritas Indonesia (CGS) proved that hard graft and a commitment to innovation can propel you forward.
For the 2023 financial year, CGS settled with a trade value market share of 6.88%, placing it fourth in a market shared by 90 brokers (top five for the 2023 calendar year). Profits were largely driven by retail equities, 59%, institutional equities, 31%, and fixed income, 10%.
In terms of new initiatives, CGS simplified and shortened account opening times, embarked on strategic partnerships to extend reach and offerings, re-opened its investment banking business, and embraced digital technologies to boost user experience.
Such initiatives have resulted in gross profits of IDR109.1 billion ($6.7 million) for FY 2023, slightly down on the prior year, but comfortably in line with its peers.
BEST DCM HOUSE
Indo Premier Sekuritas
Despite a challenging year, Indo Premier Sekuritas (Indo Premier) managed to secure top spot position in the Bloomberg IDR Bonds and Sukuk League Table throughout the award assessment period.
Within the calendar year, the house underwrote a total of IDR18.4 trillion ($11.5 billion) of debt, surpassing its nearest rival Mandiri Sekuritas who managed 80% of that sum.
Key deals include the launch of OKI’s pioneering IDR1.5 trillion green bond, primarily in a 3-year tenor, comprising 70% of the total issuance. It was the first of its type for a manufacturing company in Indonesia and is being used, in part, for green project financing.
Indo Premier was also an underwriter on Indonesia Infrastructure Finance’s notable IDR835 billion raising, containing perpetual notes structured to align with green principles. The proceeds are dedicated to customers committed to environmentally sustainable practices.
BEST INVESTMENT BANK; BEST ECM HOUSE
Mandiri Sekuritas
Mandiri Sekuritas had an all-round good year. Working on some of the most impactful IPO deals, M&As, ESG bonds, all the while playing an important role in supplying liquidity to a market that faced its fair share of volatility.
On advisory and M&A, Mandiri Sekuritas handled the acquisition of the one and only national 2-eV brand in Indonesia – IBC and Gesit – and the largest M&A in the history of Telkom Indonesia and IndiHome, a landmark in the telco industry worth IDR58 trillion ($3.5 billion).
And despite the market conditions, transition to green is still the focus of many issuers. The securities house was involved in a hatful of green bonds, including one for Bank BRI.
Responsible for underwriting some of the most important Indonesian IPOs in the year, representing 59% of the total funds raised on the IDX in 2023, Mandiri Sekuritas not only put in a solid financial performance but placed very highly in the ECM-linked rankings tables.
Mandiri Sekuritas beat BNI Sekuritas to top spot in equity underwriting, gaining 12.1% of market share and came in second in equity trading with 7.4%.
The standout deals include the IDR9 trillion IPO of Pertamina Geothermal Energy, the first pure-play geothermal energy company to IPO in Indonesia. Mandiri Sekuritas acted as the joint domestic lead managing underwriter and joint bookrunner.
The house also worked as the joint global coordinator, joint domestic lead underwriter for Trimegah Bangun Persada, Indonesia’s largest pure nickel miner, raising IDR10 trillion.
BEST LAW FIRM
Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung
As the tables will tell, Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung is a law firm with a proud reputation. It has been top-ranked in all 10 of our core practice areas in each of the past five years – including banking and finance, capital markets, and corporate M&A.
The law firm, which has a long-standing tie up with Herbert Smith Freehills, prides itself on handling tricky financial transactions in politically sensitive and highly regulated areas.
Notable work includes acting as Indonesian counsel to Amman Mineral Internasional, which owns the second-largest copper and gold mine in Indonesia, on its $712 million IPO and global offering.
The firm also acted for Singtel on the spin-off of Telkom’s fixed broadband business (IndiHome) into Telkomsel, a joint venture between Singtel and Telkom worth $3.8 billion. The spin-off involved high-value assets, a highly regulated sector involving complex capital market aspects, and an Indonesian state-owned entity.
INDONESIA - INTERNATIONAL
BEST BANK; BEST CORPORATE BANK - LARGE CORP & MNCS; MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY – BANKS
Citi
It was a busy year for Citi’s Indonesian business. Concluding the sale of its consumer business to UOB Indonesia in November was one major operational highlight, but from a day-to-day perspective, the bank performed well across the board.
Citi Indonesia upped its loan book growth by 18% year-on-year, was involved in $800 million of IPO and equity transactions, $5 billion in syndicated loans, and $3 billion of G3 bonds.
Citi boosted commercial banking revenue growth by 25%, with cash management, FX and liquidity management service driving that increase. In 2023, Citi Indonesia’s FX transactions grew by 35% to $55.7 billion.
In trade and treasury, the bank saw third-party deposits grow 5% while trade finance volumes growth went up 10%.
In terms of product development, Citi Indonesia was the first bank to introduce paperless underlying document submissions, the first to offer a virtual cards solution with auto-spending and reconciliation controls, and the first to automate payment outlier detection capability within the country.
Citi’s presence as a trusted partner for Asia’s most influential and demanding corporate clients is well known. No more so than in Indonesia, where a hat-trick of standout transactions show why it has earnt that reputation.
Citi Indonesia acted as the sole coordinator of PT Freeport Indonesia’s – owner of the world’s largest gold mine in the world – $1 billion of senior unsecured credit facilities. The bank launched the transaction to existing lenders to amend and extend, successfully reset the facility tenor to five years, reduced margin and commitment fees, and bumped the facility up to $1.75 billion.
Citi also worked with United Tractors on a similar amend deal, one which secured a $1 billion senior unsecured revolving credit facility, and supported Syngenta Indonesia with a $30 million distribution finance deal to boost working capital needs. It was Citi’s first deal of this type in Asean.
Citi has long been able to innovate at a pace not normally associated with large financial institutions.
At the heart of this is Citi’s flaghship digital banking platform, CitiDirect, a robust banking solution that links users up to a whole suite of services and tools suitable for all size of commercial and public-sector clients.
It’s a popular offering. Digital utilisation from clients has grown remarkably during 2023, with the bank witnessing 99% of transaction moving through digital, more than 80% host-to-host connections, 60% growth in mobile applications use, 50% growth in biometric usage.
The bank is now effectively moving clients to its next generation of CitiDirect, built on a domain-driven, cloud-based micro-services platform – promising ease of use, faster time to market, no system downtime, dynamic scalability, and ease of integration to internal and external partners.
BEST COMMERCIAL BANK - SMES
OCBC Bank
Sometimes SMEs just need to know they are being given a fair crack at the whip. Many struggle to get financing at the speed at which their own businesses operate.
In Indonesia, OCBC set up an initiative called Simple Take Over, allowing businesses to gain faster access to financing if they have existing credit at other banks. The model significantly shortened the credit process from 14 days to just 1.5 days on average.
The bank also launched “AUM Based Lending”, which provides pre-approved commercial property loans worth four times from customer deposits in other banks and six times from customer deposits at OCBC.
OCBC Bank uses its Asean network well. In May 2023, OCBC Indonesia brought together industry frontrunners and investors at a networking event pairing 10 cutting-edge Chinese tech firms with 21 Indonesian companies from diverse sectors such as healthcare, green energy and digital fintech.
BEST INVESTMENT BANK
BNP Paribas
Over the past few years, BNP Paribas Investment Bank (under PT BNP Paribas Sekuritas Indonesia) has recorded impressive performance, growing revenue more than four-fold between 2020 to 2023, representing a CAGR of 63%.
That performance was manifest in a series of important deals for the country over the year.
The bank supported the establishment of the world’s first nickel-to-battery value chain between ANTAM, IBC and CBL. The project is the first-of-its-kind in delivering nickel-to-battery integration both in Indonesia and globally.
BNP Paribas was the sole financial advisor to Gunung Raja Paksi (GRP) on a complex cross-border M&A deal. GRP is the largest privately owned Indonesian steel producer. The bank agreed to sell 95% of Nusantara Baja Profil to a consortium at an equity value of $425 million.
BNP Paribas also acted as the joint global coordinator and joint domestic lead underwriter in the $650 million IPO of Trimegah Bangun Persana.
BEST SUSTAINABLE BANK
MUFG Bank
MUFG Bank has proven itself an influential bank in Indonesia for sustainable finance through beneficial client engagement, deal origination and strategic initiatives.
As part of its client engagement strategy, MUFG Bank has worked tirelessly with borrowers across two key environmental themes – energy transition and reduction of GHGs emissions tied to Indonesia’s 2060 net-zero ambition. The bank was a member of the initial group part of the $20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) for Indonesia.
Key transactions included the ¥20.7 billion ($130 million) Republic of Indonesia Samurai blue bond, the first of its type in Asia and one that introduced Indonesia’s SDGs Government Securities Framework to Japanese investors.
MUFG Bank was a mandated lead arranger and bookrunner on Sarana Multi Infrastruktur’s US$700 million syndicated sustainability-linked term loan, bookrunner for Pertamina Geothermal Energy’s $400 million green bond, and mandate lead arranger for Teknologi Nusantara’s $404 million sustainability-linked project financing.
MALAYSIA - DOMESTIC
BEST BANK
Public Bank
Public Bank ranks number one among major domestic commercial banking groups in terms of profitability and cost efficiency, with the highest net return on equity of 13% and cost to income ratio of 33.7%.
In terms of domestic asset quality, it reported a gross impaired loans ratio of 0.4% as at the end of 2023, well below the banking industry’s average of 1.65%.
Public Bank maintained its dominance as the top domestic financier for the purchase of residential properties, commercial properties, and passenger vehicles as at the end of 2023, with a market share of 20.4%, 32.6% and 30.5%, respectively. Overall, gross loans, advances and financing grew by 5.9% to RM399 billion ($85 billion).
In terms of product development, Public Bank has seen notable success in digitising its customer base. The group’s newly registered subscribers of online banking and mobile banking grew by 3.4% and 37.3%, respectively.
BEST BROKER; BEST DCM HOUSE; BEST SUSTAINABLE BANK
Maybank Investment Bank
2023 proved a year of notable firsts for Maybank Investment Bank.
It became the first issuer in the market to re-list US structured warrants on Bursa Malaysia, as well as the inaugural issuer following the stock exchange’s market cap threshold change to RM500 million ($106 million) for underlying companies.
Overall, the house ranked third in Malaysia in terms of active structured warrants.
And despite tough competition, it ranked top among brokers with the highest number of new CDS accounts opened on the stock exchange.
Landmark transactions include its role in the DXN Holdings IPO, the largest ever direct selling company listing in Asean, Aurelius Technologies’ highly successful primary placement, and Pavilion REIT’s primary placement, the largest ever of its type in Malaysia.
On all the major rankings metrics for DCM, Maybank Investment Bank excelled in 2023, ranking number one in issuance for local currency bonds, ringgit Islamic sukuk, domestic sukuk, and sukuk and Islamic financing. Overall, market share reached 42.9% for the year.
The bank completed a host of landmark deals and was involved in a series of market firsts. Notable deals include Khazanah’s $1.5 billion sukuk Wakalah and euro medium-term note, the first-ever rated US dollar sukuk and bond by Malaysia’s sovereign fund; Point Zone, a RM555 million ($117 million) sustainability sukuk, a first in the private healthcare market, and Johor Corp’s RM1.5 billion sukuk Wakalah, the first sukuk guaranteed by the state government of Johor.
Maybank Investment Bank made great efforts in 2023 to move the sustainability needle.
Completing a total of 23 sustainable finance transactions, both across bonds and loans, worth nearly $600 million. In terms of market share, Maybank was involved in 61% of sustainability-related deals. Mandates grew by 188% year-on-year in 2023.
One very specific area of note is the bank’s push in the mid-cap sector, an area which will contain companies that find it harder to make the transition to be more sustainable.
Breakthrough deals include Worldwide Holdings’ two waste-to-energy projects’ RM999 million ($212 million) maiden syndicated green financing, where Maybank IB acted in multiple roles including sustainability structuring adviser in what is the largest waste-to-energy project in Malaysia to-date.
As an early mover in ESG research, Maybank has also won distinction for the high quality for its brokerage and overall analysis output.
BEST COMMERCIAL BANK - SMES
Bank Islam
Bank Islam has had a very solid year. Total financing to its commercial and corporate banking remained steady year-on-year, total gross income shot up 38.1%.
In terms of the overall performance of its SME banking division, asset year-to-date increase was 14.64%, non-fund-based income improved 25.64%, while fund-based income shot up 30%.
For SME tools and services, Bank Islam offers a well-established and successful vendor finance solution in partnership with Petronas and Sarawak Energy; approval rates increased notably on 2022 numbers.
Bank Islam’s focus on digital transformation has paid dividends too – investing and launching REVEX, a platform that automates supply chain financing processes.
Equally, its reputation as a bank committed to Halal SME sector remains unparalleled, introducing a finance programme called Biz Smart Property Finance, empowering companies to acquire refinance, or renovate commercial or industrial properties, among other new initiatives.
BEST INVESTMENT BANK; BEST ECM HOUSE
CIMB Investment Bank
When working within more challenging environments it’s impressive for an institution to maintain dominance in the league tables and continue to innovate.
CIMB Investment Bank (CIMB) ranked number one in Malaysia’s M&A deal table, completing five deals worth $1.4 billion. Notable deals it worked on include the acquisition and mandatory take-over of UMW Holdings Berhad and strategic partnership with DigitalBridge for the AIMS data centre business in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
CIMB also completed the first successful bank merger since 2018 of Malaysia Building Society and Malaysian Industrial Development Fund, with combined assets of RM61.7 billion ($13.1 billion). The complexity of the deal was widely remarked upon.
The institution also saw a 200% increase in ECM deal activity, it completed 45 transactions in the year, including two IPOs, six primary placements and 37 secondary placements. Total deal value reached US$1.3 billion, an 8% increase. IPOs include DXN Holdings $146.4 million listing and Radium Development’s $95.5 million deal.
CIMB’s presence in follow-on equity offerings across Asean dramatically jumped year-on-year, seeing a 214% rise for deal activity. Of the $1.1 billion raised, $316 million was done via six primary placements, $106 million via a rights issue, and $739 million via 37 secondary placements.
Alongside its dominance in ECM, CIMB maintained its prowess as a top DCM bank, working on $5.9 billion worth of deals in Malaysia ringgit market. CIMB solely structured and arranged MTT Shipping’s inaugural RM1.5 billion Islamic commercial papers programme and RM1.5 billion Islamic medium-term notes programme.
BEST ESG IMPACT - BANKS
Public Bank
When it comes to ESG you must make a difference where it matters most. For Public Bank, that meant influencing the property market, a sector responsible for high carbon emissions.
A leader in the residential property financing market, the bank worked with property developers in supplying sustainable finance packages for customers who purchased green-certified and sustainable residential as well as commercial properties.
In addition to offering preferential rates and “fast lane” approval, the lender offered borrowers the financing option to purchase and upgrade their new properties with eco-friendly and energy-efficient appliances, fixtures and fittings. Over RM850 million ($180 million) was mobilised in 2023.
On social issues, Public Bank continued to encourage home ownership. About 53% of the group’s newly approved housing loans were for the purchase of homes costing between RM100,000 and RM500,000, benefiting more than 25,300 customers from the low- to medium-income group.
BIGGEST ESG IMPACT - NON-BANK FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
AmInvest
While it’s easy to offer up a list of ESG principles to the board, it’s not so easy to put them into practice. For AmInvest they have managed to succeed in doing both.
Examples of funds that have delivered measuring impact include the Sustainable Outcomes Global Equity Fund, which invests in companies seeking to make improvements in education, clean technology, healthcare, safety and security.
As of June 2023, AmInvest said its fund has improved its carbon footprint by showing a reduction of 62% compared to the benchmark.
The asset manager’s Climate Tech Fund has invested in solutions that generate clean energy, increase energy efficiency and support initiatives within health, water, and agriculture.
On the social side, its Nutrition Fund invests in companies that contribute to and/or benefit from the nutrition value chain – securing food supplies, improving human and planetary health.
MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY - BANKS
Kenanga Investment Bank
Kenanga Investment Bank (Kenanga) won the accolade for most innovative use of technology for its work on developing and improving its retail equity trading business, specifically structured warrants , known as NagaWarrants.
KPIs included increasing market share and profitability, by focusing on “cutting-edge product offerings, ease of transaction, facilitating investor education, and creative marketing campaigns” to reach the trading public.
From January 2023 to May 2023, Kenanga started work on key improvements on its platform. This included: improved bid/offer liquidity - with more than one million units on bid/ask for most Kenanga HSI warrants, overcoming local exchanges’ limitation of offering only 500,000 units per order, and improved market-making latency.
As a result, the investment bank achieved impressive growth in the issuance of structured warrants, increasing from 210 in 2022 to 261 in 2023. Average daily volume surged to 196.8 million units, almost three times higher than at the start of 2023.
MALAYSIA - INTERNATIONAL
BEST COMMERCIAL BANK - SMES
OCBC Bank
OCBC Bank has been busy in Malaysia supporting the SME sector with a range of impressive initiatives.
To accommodate Bumiputera (indigenous Malaysians) entrepreneurs particularly, OCBC Al-Amin, OCBC’s full-fledged Islamic banking subsidiary, offers a fully digital Shariah business account, which allows them to transact with Shariah-compliant merchants around the world.
OCBC was also the first bank to bring PayNow QR into the Malaysian market for those with difficulty receiving payments across the border to Singapore using a dynamic QR or static QR displayed at the cashier. Transaction volumes for this product hit a record high in 2023.
OCBC also recently expanded its Sustainable Finance Framework for SMEs into the region, including Malaysia, and subsequently broadened it to include a climate adaptation category, supporting services, facilities, and research and development projects aimed at enhancing adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change.
With accelerated adoption of the framework, OCBC’s green loans nearly doubled to more than S$7 billion (US$5.2 billion), impacting more than 1,200 SMEs in the region.
BEST CORPORATE BANK - LARGE CORP & MNCS; MOST DEI PROGRESSIVE - BANKS
Citi
Citi’s financial performance in Malaysia is a testimony to its success in supporting the country’s most influential businesses.
Citibank’s Malaysia operation achieved after tax profit of RM768 million ($162 million) for the 2023 financial year, reflecting 83% growth on the previous year. The bank generated the highest return on assets at 2.5% amongst foreign banks servicing institutional clients and a return on equity at 17.6%. Equally, Citi’s wallet share among corporate clients has grown an average 8% CAGR over recent years.
Notable deals include serving as sole global loan coordinator and financial advisor, lead bookrunner and arranger for Genting Group’s syndicated loan – and amendment and extension of an existing credit facility.
The bank was also involved in one of the largest private credits deals in the Southeast Asia region – an aviation company looking to expand its maintenance repair overhaul business in the region.
In Malaysia, Citi also made positive progress in gender diversity. As of December 2023, the bank’s total female employee representation stood at 62%. Just over half (53.9%) of those employees sit at assistant vice president to managing director are women.
This momentum continued through hiring, where women constituted over 60% of overall new hires in 2023 and 45% of new hires at the assistant vice president and above levels are women.
All interviews require a panel to have at least two diverse interviewers to be a valid diverse panel. As part of its focus on diverse hiring, Citi ensured over 80% of the mid- to senior-level roles had at least two female candidates.
In 2023, the majority of 94% of Citi Malaysia staff surveyed shared a favourable view on its DEI initiatives.
BEST INVESTMENT BANK
Bank of America
The US bank had a very good 2023 all round in Malaysia. However, Bank of America particularly shone in M&A where it supported four deals with a deal value worth $3.27 billion, topping the league tables for the calendar year and cementing its prowess as a facilitator of crucial deals.
In November it supported the $1.3 billion sale of Ramsay Sime Darby to Columbia Asia. It was the largest M&A in Malaysia and the largest private healthcare buyout in Southeast Asia since 2010.
In May, Bank of America worked with Tenaga to acquire Speak Renewables’ solar and wind portfolio for an undisclosed sum, marking Tenaga’s entry into the Australian power market.
Thirdly, the bank was joint bookrunner on the $1.5 billion sukuk and conventional bond deal from Khazanah Nasional – the first ever rated issuance from Khazanah and the largest US dollar bond offering it has ever issued.
BEST SUSTAINABLE BANK
MUFG Bank
MUFG Bank revised its 2030 sustainable finance target to reach ¥35 trillion ($220 billion) to support decarbonisation efforts in the region and fit client needs. As of September 2023, the bank’s sustainable finance balance reached ¥27.7 trillion, a 43% increase year-on-year.
In order to continue its momentum, MUFG Bank launched new products, including Islamic Green Finance, suitable for markets such as Malaysia.
A notable transaction included acting as mandated lead arranger for shipping firm MISC's $275 million inaugural sustainability linked-loan.
MUFG Bank also supported Sime Darby Motors with a $25 million Islamic green trade facility. The two-tranche transaction marks the first sustainable finance issuance for the conglomerate and is in alignment with Shariah compliant principles and eligible green projects.
THE PHILIPPINES - DOMESTIC
BEST BANK; BEST CORPORATE BANK - LARGE CORP & MNCS; BEST SUSTAINABLE BANK; BIGGEST ESG IMPACT - BANKS
Bank of the Philippine Islands
The year proved a very positive one for BPI. In addition to receiving the final approval for the merger of BPI and Robinson Bank Corp, BPI published a set of solid results generating a record income of P51.7 billion ($8.9 billion), up 30.5% on the year before.
Revenue reached P138.32 billion, driven mostly by higher rates, but also higher record trading income. For investors, ROE and ROA hit 15.35% and 1.93% respectively in 2023, reaching a decade high.
In terms of its balance sheet, BPI grew its loans book by 10.2%, closely in line with deposits (9.5%). The bank’s portfolio reflected its success in a broad range of services: credit cards, growth up 38%; auto loans, up 24%; mortgages up 6.7%; personal loans up 106%; and microfinance loans, up 34%.
On the corporate banking side, BPI ranked top in the Bloomberg Corporate Bonds League Table for Philippine Peso Bond Issuances.
BPI’s corporate banking covers top 1,000 corporations, multinationals, and financial institutions. To give a flavour of its strength in the MNC space, BPI’s cash management and trade products showed a 9% year-on-year growth in number of transactions processed in 2023.
In terms of product sectors, loan volumes of P1.42 trillion contributed to 73% of the bank’s total loan book. Gross revenue growth reached 40% over 2022 numbers.
BPI Capital, the bank’s investment banking arm, maintained its leading position among Philippine investment banks, coming in at number one in the league table for debt capital markets with a market share of 6.25%.
BPI has made substantial ground on making its portfolio more sustainable. The bank’s outstanding corporate and SME book in support of the UN SDGs increased almost 10% to $15 billion. This represents 52% of the total portfolio and is only $3 billion short of the overall target set for 2026.
On policy, BPI stopped lending to greenfield coal power generation facilities, in support of its commitment to cease the finance of additional greenfield coal power generation and reduce exposure to coal power generation to zero by 2032. BPI claims to be the first Philippine bank to give a time-bound coal phase out commitment.
To help offset lost energy sources and boost renewable power production, BPI provided financial support to renewable energy projects. From 51% as of year-end 2022, renewable energy comprised 59% of BPI’s energy generation portfolio at the end of 2023.
BPI has an established Sustainable Funding Framework under which the bank issues green, social, or sustainability bonds or loans to fund projects with clear environmental and social benefits.
The framework is aligned with the following standards and principles: International Capital Market Association Green and Social Bond Principles, Loan Market Association Green Loan Principles, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Green, Social, and Sustainability Bond Standards.
BEST BANK FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION
BDO Unibank
BDO Unibank (BDO) has made a conscious effort to grow its banking network across the country. From 1,436 in 2019, BDO now has 1,722 branches and banking offices as of December 2023.
BDO also expanded its agency banking presence, with 9,764 Cash Agad partner agents covering 92% of municipalities and 100% of provinces in the Philippines. Cash Agad provides point-of-sale machines to agents with local businesses in high population areas, allowing BDO clients to withdraw cash in locations where there are no branches or ATMs. In 2023, Cash Agad merchants processed 19.9 million transactions.
BDO also wants to support companies in their inclusion efforts. One initiative that enshrines this is aimed at supporting emerging businesses through managing payroll and cash payments. In 2023, the bank processed a total transaction volume of 134 million, with a value of P18 trillion ($300 billion).
BEST BROKER
First Metro Securities
First Metro Securities continued its healthy progress in 2023, generating revenue of P539 million ($9 million) via equities, mutual funds, fixed-income securities, and margin lending. This represents a 36% increase on the year before.
In terms of customers, First Metro Securities saw 3.14% growth in its client base, bringing the total number of accounts to 94,225. Market share increased from 3.24% to 4.46% and trading volume grew by 14.5%, placing it in eighth place in the broker rankings.
In 2023, the broker expanded its platform’s capabilities allowing it to deliver real-time updates and news on the Philippine stock market and economy within minutes, ensuring clients stay informed. Also, by integrating insights and trade ideas into real-time charts, it has made it easier for clients to identify trends, trading opportunities and potential risks.
BEST INVESTMENT BANK; BEST DCM HOUSE
First Metro Investment Corporation
Despite the challenging business landscape, First Metro Investment Corporation (First Metro) concluded 2023 with a healthy bottom line, boasting a consolidated net income of P551.9 million ($117 million). First Metro orchestrated 15 capital market transactions, raising a total of P449.22 billion (78% market share) out of the P575.42 billion capital amassed for bond and equity markets throughout the year. Noteworthy among these transactions was Upson International Corporation’s P1.65 billion IPO.
The corporate bond market, where First Metro excelled, cooled off in 2023 but was buoyed by the traditional names you would expect to see active.
Companies such as SM Prime Holdings, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Ayala Land, Robinsons Land Corporation and Filinvest Land issued deals in 2023, all of which First Metro arranged and managed. It is a key reason why the bank’s market share reached 80%. First Metro successfully orchestrated 15 capital market transactions, raising a total of P449.22 billion.
First Metro was particularly proud of its role in securing Aboitiz Equity Ventures P17.45 billion of debt funding in difficult conditions. The net proceeds of the bond are being used to partially fund the acquisition of 40% equity interest in Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines. The book was 5.26 times oversubscribed.
BEST ECM HOUSE
China Bank Capital
China Bank Capital led five equity capital market transactions in 2023 which raised a total of P87.15 billion ($1.5 billion). Of those five, the bank acted as an issue manager, including a sole mandate for an IPO transaction.
China Bank Capital executed the greatest number of Philippine preferred share issuances in 2023 compared to its peer group, being part of nine out of 10 during the awards period.
A highlight was the bank’s execution of the P1.05 billion IPO of Repower Energy Development Corporation, the hydropower arm of Pure Energy Holdings Corporation, a conglomerate comprised of hydropower, bulk water and distribution, solar and geothermal power member-companies. Another highlight was the maiden P25 billion preferred shares offering of Acen Corporation, the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group.
BEST PRIVATE BANK
BDO Private Bank
BDO Private Bank’s business saw AUM in its trust service grow 4% in 2023 to P593 billion ($10 billion), signing off on a very solid year.
The bank has centres across the Philippines to serve its high net-worth clients. Six are located around Metro Manila and one exists in each in Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, and newly opened Iloilo.
In terms of services and promotion, the private bank rolled out its safe deposit box facility in the Davao Wealth Center – for the exclusive use of BDO Private Bank clients – and conducted more webinars concerning investment ideas and market analyses on top of its usual biannual economic briefings. A post-pandemic face-to-face version was conducted in May 2023.
In terms of BDO Private Bank’s AUM exposure, 53.4% was in bonds, 18.2% in equities, and 15.4% was deposits.
BEST VIRTUAL BANK
Maya
In 2021, only 31% of Filipino adults with savings put their money in banks and only 4% of Filipino borrowers got bank loans. Maya believes it can change this. And to a reasonable extent it has done so already, especially with the younger generation: 30% of its depositors and 19% of its borrowers are Gen Zs and Millennials.
With a firm emphasis on AI and technology to analyse transaction data, Maya reached seven times the loan disbursements it achieved in 2022, reaching to P22 billion ($393.3 million) in 2023. Its customer base has more than doubled, hitting three million at the end of 2023, with deposits surging to P25 billion.
And it’s not just retail. Maya is also the first digital bank to offer enterprises with a one-platform experience for omni-channel payments acceptance, digital disbursements, banking, and money management tools.
THE PHILIPPINES - INTERNATIONAL
BEST BANK; MOST DEI PROGRESSIVE - BANKS
Citi
Citi Philippines’ financial performance for the year was solid, generating net income of P10 billion ($1.7 billion) and a return on equity of 25.24%.
Its performance is largely down to its reach. Citi Philippines banks 90% of the top 20 companies in the country by listed market capitalisation and settles around $5 billion of transfers daily.
In addition, Citi Philippines remains the sole settlement bank for the Philippine Domestic Dollar Transfer System and has done so for the past 29 years. In terms of peso net clearing, it ranks number one with over 20% market share and second in terms of volume.
The bank is dominant in the trading space. Citi has a strong presence across asset classes with an estimated Philippines market share of 10% in FX spot, 8% in FX swaps and 8% in government securities.
In addition, Citi is the only foreign bank among the top 10 government securities eligible dealers with a market maker status.
Asia plays a key role in the hiring, retention, and promotion of gender diverse talent to achieving its aspirational diversity representation goals globally. Over half of Citi’s 60,000 plus staff in Asia are female with female CEOs in Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, and mainland China.
Citi Philippines exemplifies this diversity. The bank has nearly 7,000 employees and has strong female representation throughout the company. As of December 2023, 58% of the employees at the assistant vice president to managing director levels were women, higher than 56% in national female labour force participation.
To drive accountability and progress, Citi’s 2025 representation goals are embedded in its business strategy as well as in executive scorecards. The bank undertakes ongoing pipeline analyses to help assess availability and flow of diverse talent and exact where it can achieve better representation among women and racial/ethnic minorities.
BEST INVESTMENT BANK
UBS
UBS continued its good run of form in the Philippines with an impressive all-round display in investment banking.
For M&A, it was involved in some groundbreaking deals, acting as advisor on various landmark cross-border M&A transactions, including MGen Renewable Energy’s acquisition of a controlling stake in SPNEC.
The above deal also highlighted UBS’ dominance in the infrastructure and renewables space, having advised on three transactions. The most noteworthy was the largest privatisation in the Philippine Stock Exchange since the inception of the stock market.
UBS acted as sole international financial advisor on the successful delisting tender offer made by Mitsui/JOIN2, First Pacific, GT Capital and MIG for MPIC, one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines, at a $7.5 billion enterprise value.
On the capital markets front, UBS completed the greatest number of transactions during the awards period for both ECM and DCM, underlining the bank’s consistent strong execution and marketing capabilities.
SINGAPORE - DOMESTIC
BEST BROKER
Maybank Securities
As the second-largest entity under Maybank’s investment banking group, Maybank Securities in Singapore showed its ability last year to deliver value through bolstering its digital trading infrastructure and user experience, enhancing its thought leadership, tracking ESG performance, and driving client engagement.
Among the highlights in 2023 for the firm was a digital onboarding initiative that resulted in clients being able to open a trading account within three minutes.
Another success was thought leadership in small and mid-caps, as well as sustainability, which Maybank Securities offered clients. For example, its research initiated an Opportunity+ (rated) and Discovery+ (unrated) series to provide alpha-generating insights and give local champions more visibility. In conjunction with a weekly newsletter listing actionable ideas, the firm generated higher brokerage income.
In addition, Maybank Securities has been diversifying its income base by nurturing its prime brokerage business – which is now the fastest growing within the firm in terms of revenue, asset and client acquisition.
BEST DCM HOUSE; BEST ECM HOUSE; BEST INVESTMENT BANK; BEST SUSTAINABLE BANK; MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY - BANKS
DBS Bank
DBS continued in 2023 to show its standing in Singapore as part of the investment banking elite, with notable successes in debt and equity financing in its home market.
The bank was able to achieve this by sticking to its core strategy for Singapore, which includes maintaining its pole position, continuing to capture the recapitalisation and acquisition trend, executing on targeted M&A opportunities, and capitalising on new markets with a focus on Singapore’s digital economy, healthcare and disruptive technologies.
In the equity landscape, the bank led managed seven placements, four preferential offerings and one rights issue in Singapore, worth around $2 billion in total, which accounted for around 95% of the total equity proceeds raised from the Singapore market during the year. DBS also ranked first in the Singapore REITs space, accounting for 96% of the total equity proceeds, raising around $1.4 billion.
The bank also maintained an active contribution to the Singapore dollar (SGD) bond market pipeline last year, for both first-time and repeat issuers. As a result, it ranked first in the Bloomberg league table with a market share of just over 23%.
Among the benchmark-size deals that DBS worked on were: the Government of Singapore’s green bonds issuance; a callable notes issue for Lloyds Banking Group; and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust’s green bonds. At the same time, DBS was involved in most of the SGD-denominated perpetual transactions in 2023.
Some of these deals also reflect the track record of the bank in sustainable financing. In sync with the increasing momentum behind creating positive environmental and social impact, the bank’s commitment in these areas – net of repayments – was around S$70 billion ($52 billion) as of December 2023, up from around S$51 billion from the previous year end.
Further, during the year, DBS facilitated close to S$18 billion of ESG bond issuances for clients, mostly in the form of green and sustainable bonds.
Other key sustainable initiatives in 2023 included decarbonising supply chains at scale through ESG strategic partnerships, and embedding sustainability into performance management and remuneration.
At the same time, DBS is increasingly recognised as a global leader in digital transformation. It reinforced this in 2023 with innovations and rollouts that enhanced employee productivity, improved the employee experience and drove the future of work through advanced tools.
More specifically, it developed a Patch Dashboard and Patch Cockpit – both aiming to tackle the pressing issue of efficiently updating software across its expanding network of servers. These tools not only offer comprehensive insights into patch vulnerabilities but also simplify the update process, enhancing DBS’ cybersecurity defence.
Such products have the potential to help reimagine the future of banking and establish new benchmarks for the industry.
BEST LAW FIRM
Allen & Gledhill
Many of Allen & Gledhill’s successes in 2023 stemmed from its realisation of the requirement to adapt to evolving client needs.
One of the key initiatives was to expand the firm’s regional footprint. It set up new offices in China and Indonesia, given the desire among its clients to capitalise on the growth opportunities in these economies.
A second important development that showcased Allen & Gledhill’s leadership position in Singapore was its move to diversify its service offering. For example, amid an increase in instructions relating to foreign investment reviews, it expanded the scope of its competition and antitrust practice to cover these. The firm also set up an aviation finance practice in response to the promising recovery trend it saw in the aviation sector.
More broadly, Allen & Gledhill was involved in almost all of the high profile, high value and innovative matters that took place in Singapore in 2023.
SINGAPORE - INTERNATIONAL
BEST BANK
HSBC
HSBC’s strategy in Singapore was underscored in 2023 by its strong year-on-year performance, outperforming peers in the process. The outcome was $1.1 billion in profits before tax, an increase of 45% year-on-year.
This reflected progress in several aspects of the bank’s plan to be the leading international wealth hub for clients, the leading wholesale bank in digitalisation, and the leading bank for sustainable finance.
In wealth, for instance, HSBC’s integration of AXA Singapore into HSBC Life in early 2023 strengthened its capabilities to offer retail clients an integrated offering across banking, wealth and insurance.
HSBC also extended its regional treasury hub in Singapore to support corporate clients, while investing in the digitalisation of global payments solutions. Overall, the bank continued to grow its base of wholesale customers – from SMEs to large corporates and multinationals.
Within green and transition financing, meanwhile, HSBC enhanced its sustainability and climate risk management processes to support customers’ transition journeys, plus the bank grew its sustainable finance and investments volume.
BEST INVESTMENT BANK
Bank of America
The type of consistency that Bank of America showed in deal flows and execution across the capital markets in 2023 earned this award.
It was one of the few international banks able to complete transactions across M&A, as well as equity and debt capital markets, in a wide range of industries amid arguably the most challenging market conditions in a decade.
For example, Bank of America ranked as the top M&A bank in Singapore last year for completed deals, based on Dealogic data. This helped cement its role as a trusted advisor to blue chip Singapore corporates, with the bank involved in transactions ranging from one of the largest greenfield hydrogen investments in Southeast Asia, to a strategic review for Singapore Post, to creating one of the largest hospital platforms in the region.
The bank also offered a dominant platform for blue chips from DBS Bank, to ST Engineering, to sovereigns elsewhere in the region, to tap the capital markets with precedent-setting issuances.
BEST SUSTAINABLE BANK
MUFG Bank
In the face of difficult market conditions for sustainable finance, with both ESG loan and bond volumes falling, MUFG made significant progress during the year in enhancing client engagement and increasing the volume of its ESG financing deals, by both deal value and deal count.
New product launches supported the bank’s success. After identifying a need among clients for a greater array of sustainable finance products, MUFG brought to market in Singapore new sustainable deposits, Islamic green finance and green preferred equity.
At the same time, MUFG deepened its collaboration last year with its network of partner banks in the region.
Notably, the bank also conducted over 3,000 hours of ESG training sessions and over 500 client engagements across Asia, including in Singapore.
THAILAND - DOMESTIC
BEST BROKER
CGS International Securities Thailand
CGS had an impressive 2023, making the firm the judges’ pick for the brokerage award in the domestic market.
This reflected a focus on key strategies last year. For example, CGS strengthened its sales and trading teams in its retail equities and wealth management divisions, and in turn expanded its margin book from THB3 billion ($82 million) in 2022 to THB4.5 billion.
The firm also improved the customer experience with new online features, and started developing a mobile app to enhance portfolio transparency and account opening. Other digital initiatives included an enhanced payment system.
Also last year, CGS initiated a new block trade system to facilitate matched trading by pairing buy and sell orders between the investor and brokerage firm. Moreover, it allows investors to choose from various single stock futures contracts listed in Thailand.
BEST DCM HOUSE
Kasikornbank
Kasikornbank (KBank) has continued to be a pioneer in Thailand’s bond markets, ensuring the firm retained this award in 2023.
The bank again ranked top in league tables by both Bloomberg and the Thai Bond Market Association – an achievement it has now maintained for six consecutive years.
KBank’s debt capital markets activity in 2023 involved a wide range of products and structures, from plain vanilla, to REITs, to ESG-related bonds. The deals included: the first foreign currency digital bonds issued under Thailand’s new digital infrastructure sandbox; and the biggest corporate debenture transaction in Thailand in 2023.
The bank also used TrueMoney Wallet, the bond subscription platform, with issuers including CPF (Thailand) Public Company, and LOTUS, among others.
BEST INVESTMENT BANK
Kiatnakin Phatra Securities
In a year that challenged the creativity and capabilities of banks in executing capital markets and advisory deals, Kiatnakin Phatra Securities had an impressive 2023 that earned it this award for another year.
In M&A, the bank helped its clients overcome limitations in eight complex transactions, worth over THB77.9 billion ($2.1 billion) combined.
In terms of capital markets, meanwhile, Kiatnakin Phatra Securities managed a total of 44 bond offerings during the year. At a total of THB71.6 billion, these accounted for around 7% of all domestic long-term corporate bonds issued during 2023.
Key investment banking deals the firm was involved in included: the strategic merger between SCG Logistics Management and JWD InfoLogistics Public Company; the acquisition of Home Credit Group’s consumer finance business in the Philippines and Indonesia; and the acquisition of 65.99% shares in Esso (Thailand) by Bangchak Corporation.
BEST LAW FIRM
Weerawong, Chinnavat & Partners
In a difficult year for financial markets and the Thai economy, Weerawong, Chinnavat & Partners stood out for the quality of its advice across multiple areas.
Notably, litigation & dispute resolution maintained its position as the top-earning practice group. M&A experienced an increase in income, reflecting the firm’s success in navigating high-profile transactions.
Additionally, other practice groups such as capital markets and foreign direct investment demonstrated resilience by maintaining relatively stable income levels.
Key deals the firm acted on during the year included: divesting KFC’s business in Thailand, a transaction of notable complexity and significance; a joint venture investment in global music industry leader Universal Music Group; and the business rehabilitation of Thai AirAsia X, addressing over 600 creditors’ debt repayment applications.
BEST SUSTAINABLE BANK
Bank of Ayudhya
In 2023, Krungsri’s participation in sustainable finance deals reached THB9 billion ($245 million), along with several landmark issuances that earned the firm this award, according to the judges.
Transactions included 12 ESG Thai baht bond and loan mandates from leading companies such as Electricity Generating (EGCO), Bangkok Expressway and Metro (BEM), EXIM Bank Thailand, WHA Utilities and Power, Gulf Energy Development, SCG Packaging and Central Pattana.
Notable issuances during the year included RATCH Group’s THB1 billion in green debentures; EGCO’s inaugural green debentures, EXIM Thailand’s THB3.5 billion in green bonds; and BEM’s THB6.5 billion in sustainability debentures issuance.
Krungsri also issued a pioneering $400 million green and blue bond, with the proceeds to be deployed towards eligible blue assets such as water supply, fisheries and aquaculture, and eligible green assets such as retail electric vehicles.
MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY - BANKS
Siam Commercial Bank
By finding an innovative solution to the challenge of industry restrictions in Thailand on interbank transfers that exceed THB2 million ($54,000), Siam Commercial Bank deserved this award in 2023.
To address this issue, the bank collaborated with the Thailand Securities Depository and a major conglomerate issuer to promote the adoption of e-dividends – with the goal to reduce the reliance on conventional cheque payments while recognising the need for an alternative option for high-value payments.
Ultimately, Siam Commercial Bank leveraged real-time gross settlement technology for immediate settlement. This solution introduced a new format mandating full dividend payments, in turn enhancing operational efficiency.
THAILAND - INTERNATIONAL
BEST BANK
HSBC
HSBC’s achievements in 2023 made it a deserving recipient of this award for another year. Compared with 2022, the bank recorded a rise in revenue of 23% and adjusted profits before tax of 25%, after serving more than 2,000 customers.
HSBC also led the way with the launch of several new products last year, including two targeting onshore fixed income trading, one for social trading, and one for green loans.
The bank also continued to extend its digital footprint in Thailand, with a 35% year-on-year increase in PromptPay transactions. Over 950 customer entities now use HSBCnet Unitransact, with more than 70,000 transactions. Further, HSBC made good progress in terms of its ESG focus, including the first US dollar ESG money market fund investment, for a major Thai energy company.
BEST CORPORATE BANK - LARGE CORP & MNCs; MOST DEI PROGRESSIVE - BANKS
Citi
Citi continued to make a splash in Thailand in 2023. Perhaps most notably, the overall financial performance for its corporate banking business showed significant year-on-year growth – in revenue at nearly 38% and net income at just under 45%.
Some of the key transactions Citi worked on for larger corporates and multinationals have been for PTT Exploration and Production, Siam Cement, Tesla’s local business, Epson Precision, and Hellopay.
At the same time, Citi has serviced the tech-related needs of larger corporates and multinationals by ensuring it keeps pace with the digital era. For example, the bank embedded technology and digitisation into its offering by showcasing its blockchain and smart contract technology, plus enhanced its instant payment infrastructure to facilitate real-time domestic instant payments and collections at scale.
Citi also made significant progress again last year in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). In Thailand, it had 60% of women at management level by the end of 2023, ahead of its internal target.
More broadly, in line with Citi’s focus on the development of its talent and workforce, it has continued to promote from within as a key goal – leading to around 44% of employees working with the bank for more than 10 years.
A milestone was reached earlier last year to reinforce this, when the bank announced its first ever woman as country officer in Thailand, not only to oversee the local business but also to drive DEI.
BEST INVESTMENT BANK
Bank of America
Even during the high inflation, economic turbulence and market volatility of 2023, Bank of America completed impressive M&A and debt capital markets transactions, culminating in it being chosen for this award.
This coverage has led to the bank being a trusted advisor for clients in Thailand, especially when they are looking to expand into new territories.
Some of the standout investment banking deals from Bank of America last year include: BCPG’s first investment in the US via four combined-cycle gas turbine power plants; PTT Exploration and Production’s first investment in the UK, a sizable renewable energy project; the largest ever US dollar bond offering out of Thailand, for PTT Global Chemical Public Company; and Muang Thai Life Assurance’s repeat mandate for a bond buyback.
VIETNAM - DOMESTIC
BEST BANK
Techcombank
Techcombank’s commitment to its vision to “Change banking, Change lives” fuelled a successful year, resulting in it retaining this award.
The value of partnerships in key economic sectors saw the bank continue to scale and differentiate itself in one of the world’s fastest growing markets.
In particular, Techcombank acquired 2.6 million new customers in 2023 – a 100% increase over 2022. It also increased total assets by over 21% year-on-year, accompanied by growth in deposits (27%) and credit (19%) during the period.
This robust financial performance reinforced the bank’s business model, plus the value of new initiatives such as revitalising several partnerships and creating an enhanced banking ecosystem. Its digital focus also continued to stand out, with over 46% of its new customers in 2023 coming via digital platforms.
BEST BROKER; BEST DCM HOUSE
SSI Securities Corporation
SSI Securities Corporation maintained its dominance in these two business segments by scooping both these awards again this year.
Within debt capital markets, the firm shook off headwinds to end 2023 with some significant deals to its name for numerous leading Vietnamese corporates, worth the equivalent of $507 million for the year.
In terms of transactions, these included the pioneering bond offering for Vingroup, the first in the domestic real estate sector. SSI also played a key role on Transimex Corporation’s non-convertible bonds without warrants, secured by assets.
Meanwhile, the firm’s retail brokerage unit stood out last year for several reasons. SSI launched a series of events and activities that helped to leverage its market positioning, improve services, boost conversations with retail investors and raise operational efficiency.
These enabled SSI to acquire nearly 73,000 new customers in this space and boost its headcount of retail brokers to service them. The firm also developed a new product, “Omnibus platform”, for its institutional brokerage clients.
BEST COMMERCIAL BANK - SMEs; BIGGEST ESG IMPACT - BANKS; MOST DEI PROGRESSIVE - BANKS
Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Bank
Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Bank had an impressive year across several areas, enabling the institution to increase its awards tally.
One of these was for its achievements in catering to the needs of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Notably, in 2023, loans from the bank to this client segment grew 54% year-on-year, with over half of the profits coming from the green and service sectors.
The bank also launched new products in 2023 focusing on SMEs, helping to drive further digital transformation in this segment. For example, it developed automated solutions to enhance cash flow management and online overdraft facilities.
At the same time, Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Bank continued to highlight the ESG impact it can make in Vietnam.
The bank sharpened its “green” objectives to grow its green loan portfolio, and exceeded its target of 20% green loan growth year-on-year by tripling its green loans compared with the previous year, especially to renewable and clean energy projects.
Another key achievement for the firm in 2023 was being recognised for its efforts in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
This commitment saw it apply IT and digital platforms to human resource management, with the goal of bringing positive experiences to more than 6,000 employees. The bank also updated many policies last year around areas such as recruitment, rotation, succession planning, annual leave and allowances.
BEST ECM HOUSE; BEST INVESTMENT BANK
Vietcap Securities
Retaining these two awards underscored Vietcap Securities’ prominence in investment banking in Vietnam. This achievement also reaffirmed the bank’s pride in being a local player capable of executing major complex deals independently.
In line with this, it has forged a role as a trusted financial advisor by both foreign and local investors, as well as corporates.
Landmark deals it worked on in 2023 included: International Dairy Product’s secondary share sale in conjunction with a private placement to Growtheum Capital Partners; D1 Concepts’ acquisition of a majority stake in Phe La; and JERA’s acquisition of a 35.1% stake in Gia Lai Electricity.
In addition, Vietcap Securities was the sole book runner for the market’s largest IPO, as well as sole advisor in the largest equity block trade of the year.
Its capital markets and advisory successes enabled the firm to deliver superior returns for the year alongside rapid growth – notably, $101.7 million equivalent in revenue and $23.3 million in profit before tax.
MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY - NON-BANK FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Techcom Securities
Techcom Securities again deserved this award, spearheading impressive initiatives in 2023, including products and preferential policies to optimise investment efficiency for customers.
With a business model that invests in core competencies in fintech and focuses on the customer experience – plus includes a zero-fee policy – the firm managed to secure a spot in the top three for brokerage market share. For bond investors, meanwhile, Techcom Securities has launched innovative products and provided liquidity support through its iConnect platform.
The firm also embraced wealthtech trends last year with streamlined processes, efficient procedures and reduced paperwork.
More broadly, the focus on optimisation and cost efficiency through its tech platform was evident through its investment in a cloud computing infrastructure and a steady cost-to-income ratio year-on-year.
VIETNAM - INTERNATIONAL
BEST BANK; BEST INVESTMENT BANK; BIGGEST ESG IMPACT - BANKS; MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY - BANKS
HSBC
HSBC was particularly impressive in Vietnam last year, retaining the same four awards from the year before.
Among its key achievements in 2023, the bank captured a significant portion of foreign direct investment inflows into the country and strengthened its market share in the local large corporate space. It also further refined its proposition for the growing middle class population.
This performance was reflected in strong growth in revenue and profit before tax year-on-year, as well as increases across both interest and commission income. While operating expenses were modestly higher compared with 2022, these represented investment in its technology platforms to accelerate the digital journey on offer to customers.
HSBC’s involvement in key capital markets and advisory transactions also highlighted the bank’s investment banking capabilities in Vietnam.
For example, it was involved in Vingroup’s exchangeable bond offering, the first-ever new issue plus buyback in Vietnam in the equity-linked market. HSBC also worked on several repeat transactions for various local corporates, including Masan, Vingroup, AES and Hoa Phat.
Its involvement in several “green” transactions last year also highlighted the bank’s focus on sustainability – in total, the bank helped corporates raise over $470 million equivalent for sustainable finance across 19 deals.
Further, HSBC was successful in making an impact across the ESG landscape. Environmentally, this ranged from supporting Vietnam at a macro level in its transition to a green economy, to effective micro initiatives such as reducing carbon via eco-efficient chairs and green awareness among employees. Social impact has come from initiatives to support employees in all aspects of their working lives, including health and well-being. The bank also created frameworks to monitor and enhance business practices and processes, including conduct and cybersecurity.
HSBC also impressed the judges for its use of innovative technology. Examples of this include tracking SWIFT payments to empower customers to monitor their payments in real-time, in turn reducing annual inquiries by 12,000 and saving both them and the bank 400 hours through end-to-end transparency.
Other initiatives, among many, included automating document checking for all FX transactions, helping improve speed by 25%, increasing accuracy and saving $200,000 for the bank annually.
BEST CORPORATE BANK - LARGE CORP & MNCs; BEST SUSTAINABLE BANK
Citi
With increasing investment into Vietnam by multinational clients, Citi has prioritised its support for the clients driving these flows.
This was clear from its work for these companies in 2023, as well as its offering to large local corporates, fuelled by Citi’s global network and partnership with fintechs.
Notable transactions that the bank participated in during 2023 included: the largest healthcare transaction in Vietnam to date; export credit agency financing for the first-ever large-scale liquefied natural gas power plant; structured loans for Vietnam Airlines; structured financing transactions with VPBank and Military Bank for ESG impact projects; and social financing to promote the distribution of agriculture products to farmers in Vietnam.
Some of these deals were also evidence of Citi’s commitment to sustainability, which stood out last year, too.
Other relevant examples included the bank working closely with the Vietnamese government on finding innovative solutions to green financing, such as blended finance models which can address bankability challenges in support of both the government’s green strategy.
Citi also implemented the first voluntary carbon credit deal in the market, distributing cookstoves and water purifiers to households in over 30 provinces in Vietnam – in turn, paving the way for the first-of-its-kind partnership in 2023 with the World Bank.
BEST LAW FIRM
Mayer Brown
Mayer Brown’s experience and 30-year presence in Vietnam positioned the firm on key deals that showed judges why it deserved this award.
In 2023, the local team – which is able to advise on English, US and Vietnamese law – led transactions across 17 jurisdictions, including representing a global insurer on the first warranty and indemnity policy used in a Vietnamese corporate acquisition.
Other notable deals for Mayer Brown last year included representing the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries on its equity (tier 1 capital) investment in Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank, a listed Vietnamese bank.
Mayer Brown also advised DEG-Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, in relation to a $25 million financing in the form of a senior secured long-term loan, provided to Binh Duong Water Environment.
You can also read the winners from North Asia and South Asia. The rationale was first published in FinanceAsia's Volume Two 2024 print edition.
