Euromoney Names Citi Best Bank In Asia

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, July 27 (Bernama) -- Euromoney has named Citi the Best Bank for 2015 -– the eighth time in the last 10 years that Citi has picked up the prestigious award. Citi also picked up Best Investment Bank and merger and acquisition (M&A) house in India at an awards ceremony in Hong Kong on July 16. In a statement, Citi said the awards were decided by the editors of Euromoney Magazine. In the Global awards announced earlier in July, Citi was named Best Global Bank and Best Emerging Markets Investment Bank by the magazine. Commenting on the achievement, Citi Head of Corporate and Investment Banking for Asia Pacific, Mark Slaughter said: "In a highly competitive market this independent recognition is greatly appreciated by all of us at Citi. "I would also like to thank our clients who place their trust in Citi to meet their financial needs. Asia Pacific is at the heart of Citi’s transformation and we are well placed to capture more of the growth opportunities in this region," he said. In the editorial write up announcing the Asia awards, Euromoney highlighted Citi’s progress in Asia and the balance of its business. "Citi...where no one country accounts for more than 10 per cent of revenues, is displaying an appreciation for dispersing risk across geographies and potentially shielding the company from swings in fortune for any one market. "The bank also made strides in a number of areas connected to the internationalisation of the renminbi and the development of the Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect system." Citi Asia is the largest region for the bank’s revenues and profits outside North America contributing over a fifth to global profit in 2014. In the most recently reported numbers for the second quarter of 2015 reported on July 15, Citi Asia Pacific revenue for the period was up 5.0 per cent to US$3.5 billion and net income rose 54 per cent year-on-year to US$1.03 billion. Citi Asia has operations in 17 markets across the region and is one of Asia’s largest wealth managers with over US$255 billion assets under management with leading retail and institutional businesses. During the awards period, Citi helped raise over US$200 billion for clients from capital markets and advised on close to US$100 billion in M&A. -- BERNAMA