The ongoing trade wars and inconsistent tariff announcements from the US, Europe, and China have created chaos in financial markets and global trade networks.
Many companies feel the consequences of this new economic reality, from delayed transactions to increased costs of goods and bilateral trade to growing trade compliance demands.
The World Trade Organization recently adjusted its trade projections for 2025 accordingly. The global trade body said there will be a substantial decline in merchandise trade and a minor decline in services trade, mainly driven by North America’s new projections of a 12.6% decline in exports and 9.6% in imports in 2025.
The new trade environment provides fertile ground for tech companies to develop new AI offerings that help businesses with their awareness, monitoring, calculation, compliance, risk management, and customs paperwork and payments.
The offerings are diverse. Several AI companies focus on automating the classification of goods and related tariff calculations while improving trade compliance. This complex process has always been one of the most challenging parts of international trade. For example, Avalara, a US software company, developed its Avalara Automated Tariff Code Classification, an AI-driven system designed to simplify and speed up the tariff classification process.
Conversely, governments are using new AI technologies to help them monitor and manage customs and tariffs better. ScanTech AI Systems, a Georgia-based American tech company, has developed its latest technology, CustomsTrace AI. It helps state agencies identify and verify tariff-sensitive goods at national borders and prevent the unauthorized or illegal importation of restricted items.
While trade wars force companies to adjust their supply chains, inventory management, and the locations of the manufacturing facilities to optimize free trade and shipping costs, it has to be supported by sophisticated data management systems. Thus, other companies develop AI-powered offerings for the shipping and customs processes to address labor and shipping concerns. Avathon, a California-based industrial AI company, introduced an AI software that provides risk management solutions for the entire process.
As the trade wars global discussions cool off to help financial markets recover, AI tech companies must maintain a sustainable business model to continue their growth regardless of market conditions.
Even before Argentina’s previous agreement with the International Monetary Fund expired in December, President Javier Milei began pursuing a new bailout package.
Last month, Milei flew to Mar-a-Lago to meet Donald Trump, hoping the US president would help him secure fresh funds. A week later, the IMF’s executive board greenlit a loan of $20 billion.
The same day, Milei addressed the nation on television: “Today, we are breaking the cycle of disillusionment and disenchantment and beginning to move forward for the first time.”
Since its first rescue package in 1958, Argentina has been the recipient of more IMF programs than any other country: a record 23 deals amounting to $177 billion in loans. However, due to the conditions of the loans themselves, inconsistent policies, chronic inflationary pressures, and a lack of meaningful structural reforms, they did little to boost the economy.
This time things might be different. Milei’s aggressive measures last year led to a rare fiscal surplus, reduced inflation, and bolstered growth and employment. The new loan may help Argentina further kickstart its economy.
Then there is Trump.
Milei’s deference to the US president has often been ridiculed, notes Juan Pablo Ferrero, senior lecturer in the Department of Politics, Languages, and International Studies at the University of Bath in the UK: “He has been a strong supporter of Trump even before the presidential elections. Many were skeptical that he would be reciprocated, especially given their different economic belief systems, but the gamble went his way.”
Milei’s unconditional alignment with the US, Ferrero says, has yielded tremendous benefits: “The deal with the IMF and a recent statement from the US government that the Treasury could grant a loan in the event of an external shock show an extraordinary level of support for Milei.”
All of the above, Ferrero argues, has allowed Milei to lift some capital controls and provide a sense of stabilization to the economy.
Still, the tale of the two presidents differs when it comes to tariffs. While Trump has raised them, the libertarian Milei has rolled them back, igniting an unprecedented import boom and attracting investments. However, the peso has strengthened, making Argentina very expensive and hitting the middle class the hardest, Ferrero adds.
“Mid-term elections are approaching later this year,” he notes. “Milei hopes the discreet charm of normality will do its work and persuade voters.”
Tesla just posted its worst quarterly results in years. Net income plunged 71% to $409 million in the first quarter.
Automotive sales tumbled 20%, and global deliveries took a hit—falling 22% in China and a staggering 62% in Germany, two of Tesla’s largest markets. Even in California, the company’s original home base, EV market share dropped from 56% to 44%.
For months, institutional investors have blamed Tesla’s troubles on CEO Elon Musk, who has been devoting much of his time to politics. On an April 22 investor call, Musk tacitly acknowledged the problem, promising that his “time allocation at DOGE will drop significantly,” referring to his Department of Government Efficiency.
Since President Trump’s inauguration, Musk’s campaign to root out government waste has devolved into a partisan spectacle, drawing mass protests and even leading to vandalism at Tesla dealerships. Many buyers have shunned the brand in reaction to Musk’s increasingly polarizing profile.
On the bright side, Tesla’s energy storage business surged 67% in the first quarter, software-subscription revenue is rising, and a June launch is planned for a robotaxi fleet along with a cheaper Model Y offering.
But the financial fallout is stark. The Austin, Texas-based company’s operating margin slid to 2.1%, down from 5.5% a year ago. Tesla also missed earnings expectations, reporting just 27 cents per share versus the 41 cents analysts had anticipated.
Eighty-five percent of investors surveyed by Morgan Stanley in March said Musk’s political activities damaged Tesla’s reputation and that they hope for a turnaround.
“In essence, this was an off ramp for Musk out of the Trump White House in our view,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors, “as the global brand damage, political firestorm, and perfect-storm chaos over the past few months will now end this volatile political chapter for Musk, and we expect minimal if any time focused on DOGE going forward.”
Trump, meanwhile, said he wants “to keep Elon for a long time.” Others in Washington may not share the same sentiment, however. Musk’s time at DOGE was reportedly rife with heated confrontations with cabinet members including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Trade Adviser Peter Navarro.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently ruled against Google twice: in August 2024 for monopolizing the search engine and search advertising markets, and in April 2025 for its digital advertising network being an illegal monopoly.
Proposed DOJ remedies include potentially forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser or parts of the Android operating system. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has an ongoing antitrust trial against Meta (Facebook), alleging the company illegally maintains a monopoly in personal social networking through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp and the imposition of anti-competitive conditions on software developers. The FTC is seeking to unwind these acquisitions.
The EU has also been very active in its antitrust scrutiny of Google and Meta, issuing substantial fines. In November 2024, the EU fined Meta for linking its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its social network, which was deemed an unfair advantage. More recently, Meta was fined for breaching the Digital Markets Act regarding its “pay or consent” model for ad-free access to Facebook and Instagram, as the EU argued it does not provide users with a genuine free choice about their data.
The approaches taken by the US and EU in challenging Google and Meta’s monopolies differ. The EU has adopted a broader and more interventionist approach, exemplified by its history of antitrust scrutiny against Google and its willingness to issue hefty fines. In contrast, the US has historically focused more narrowly on demonstrable consumer harm and has been more hesitant to pursue structural remedies like breakups. However, increasing scrutiny suggests a potential shift towards a more assertive stance. But President Trump’s recent firing of two FTC commissioners in March could indicate efforts to curb this increasing scrutiny. These divergent paths reflect differences in legal frameworks, regulatory cultures, specific market concerns, and political priorities.
UK citizens could be forgiven for thinking, in early April, that they had been transported back in time, amid suggestions British Steel should be nationalized—something that happened back in 1967.
British Steel (subsequently privatized in 1988) was a much bigger entity than today’s— which was created in 2016 from assets acquired from Tata Steel and then bought by China’s Jingye Group in 2020. The essential problem—the uncompetitive nature of domestic steel production compared to much cheaper imports, amid a backdrop of industrial decline—is similar and compounded by the UK’s gasdependent energy, now the priciest in Europe.
Jingye tried to close its loss-making Scunthorpe furnaces, which produce steel that is seen as economically and strategically vital to the national interest. Closure would leave the UK as the only leading European economy unable to make its own steel and dependent on cheap imports, notably from China.
British Steel’s long-term future remains unclear. The government said it will rescue the threatened 2,700 jobs and keep the furnaces burning with regular supplies of coking fuel—vital if the plant is to survive (if they cool, the plant becomes non-viable). It has also said it will continue looking for another buyer/partner.
BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, argues that the passing of the Steel Industry (special measures) Bill on April 12 “will most likely” lead to a nationalization of British Steel, given that the government now has de facto ownership of the long-term assets.
The crisis has laid bare the UK’s attitude to Chinese investment, particularly in industries seen as strategic. It follows the decision to force 35 UK telecoms providers to remove Huawei technology from their 5G services by 2027. It’s a big about-turn from 10 years ago, when the Conservative government eagerly sought Chinese investment and then PM David Cameron led several high-profile delegations to Beijing to deepen ties. China’s Foreign Ministry has said that politicizing the crisis could discourage Chinese investment elsewhere in the UK but Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has refused to rule out the possibility of sabotage by Jingye, saying its management at best amounted to neglect.
“Economic relations are definitely on a downward trajectory, with British Steel just the latest in a series of controversies,” says Charlie Robertson, head of strategy at investment fund FIM Partners.
GDP growth strengthens banks’ bottom lines. Consumer banking trends drive growth amid a mixed year.
The Caribbean economies have been broadly hit by slowing remittances and a cooling internal labor market. GDP for the Caribbean countries and territories from which our winners are selected is estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to have grown an average of 2.5% in 2024.
On the banking side, consumer-focused trends such as expanding loan portfolios and digital inclusion were the stars of the show. New customer acquisitions drove sustained numbers across the board despite challenging conditions.
Regional Winner
Audrey Tugwell Henry, CEO, Scotiabank Jamaica
Best Bank in Caribbean | SCOTIABANK
Against this backdrop, Scotiabank, our Best Bank in the Caribbean, de-risked out of its Central and South American operations to focus on unlocking potential in the Caribbean.
As a result, the Canadian giant posted significant growth in its International Banking segment, which generated adjusted earnings of nearly $2.9 billion in 2024, up 11% year over year (YoY).
This increased regional focus also enabled the bank to take home awards in several geographies.
Country, Territory and District Winners
Bahamas | SCOTIABANK BAHAMAS
Scotiabank Bahamas’ continued digitalization efforts proved a game changer, with over 99% of all banking activities now conducted through digital channels. More than 79,000 clients utilize online and mobile banking services.
Barbados | SCOTIABANK BARBADOS
Scotiabank Barbados’ revamped Scotia OnLine Banking platform led the bank to double deposit-account sales YoY. As a result, Scotiabank’s net profits in the country jumped 21.6%, with return on equity surging from 14% in 2023 to an impressive 23% in 2024.
Bermuda | BUTTERFIELD BANK
Butterfield Bank took advantage of its huge margins to achieve above-average profitability in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. In the latter, it increased its net income by 11.4% YoY. In the former, the secret was an ever-improving efficiency ratio, which posted at 60.4% for the year.
Dominican Republic | BANRESERVAS
In the fast-growing economy of the Dominican Republic, where the IMF estimated GDP growth was estimated at 5.1% for the year, Banreservas leveraged its leadership to become the first Dominican bank to reach 1 trillion Dominican pesos (about $16 billion) in total assets. It continued to lead the market with a 36% share of total assets and 31% of loans.
Jamaica | SCOTIABANK JAMAICA
Scotiabank Jamaica’s efforts to improve customer experience resulted in improved Net Promoter Score (NPS) across all channels: Digital NPS increased 33% to 42%, contact center NPS rose 28% to 32%, and branch NPS had a massive improvement, from 6% to 51.7%.
Puerto Rico | BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Strong loan growth was the secret behind Banco Popular de Puerto Rico’s award-winning performance. The combination of improvement in cost performance and new customer acquisitions led to a solid 10% increase YoY in adjusted net income.
Trinidad and Tobago | SCOTIABANK TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago’s focus on digitalization drove significant profitability in the country, where digital platforms remain a growth avenue, representing around 72% of total clients as of 2024. It also achieved record-breaking loan growth of $2.1 billion (12%)—its highest single-year increase ever—driven by strong performance in retail and commercial segments.
Turks and Caicos | SCOTIABANK TURKS & CAICOS
Similar trends earned the bank the award for the Turks and Caicos, where increased technological investments by Scotiabank Turks and Caicos helped to secure its leading position in clients and assets.
US Virgin Islands | FIRSTBANK
Increasing loan profitability was also the secret to FirstBank’s thriving year in the US Virgin Islands, where commercial and construction loans related to higher utilization of a government line of credit boosted numbers across the board.
The maximal net interest margin (NIM) dynamic enjoyed by banks in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in 2023 tailed off in some countries last year,
most notably in Australia where NIM fell a combined 7 basis points (bps) for the big four banks and continued its seemingly relentless contraction in China, breaking below 1.8% for the big six lenders as supply side boosts failed to meet commensurate demand and profits were squeezed.
A massive consolidation of China’s rural lenders last year revealed underlying systemic stain even though government regulators relaxed the treatment of non-performing loans, providing sectoral relief.
Japan’s monetary tightening allowed its banks to buck the NIM reversal trend and its three mega-banks produced record profits as margins surged.
Profit boosts in compensation for the region’s NIM peak were found via loan growth, fee and commission income, pushing up cash account to savings account (CASA) ratios, reducing funding costs through debt capital market issuance and beefing up returns on equity (ROE) via share buybacks. Fintech boosted low-cost customer onboarding last year and AI enriched the customer experience even though their full-scale impact on cost-to-income rations failed to emerge.
Regional Winner
Wee Ee Cheong, Deputy Chairman and CEO, UOB
Best Bank in Asia-Pacific | UOB
UOB‘s 2022 acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking business in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam was a masterstroke of regional positioning. It built on an already solid decades-long presence in those countries and helped boost the bank’s regional customer base to 8.4 million.
The bank’s wide geographic reach presents a massive cross-sell opportunity. For example, it is the biggest Visa and Mastercard issuer in Southeast Asia and grew its cross card fees by 18% last year.
Meanwhile, UOB’s wealth management division had a stand-out year, with income rising 30% and its digitally enabled customer base growing 9% with 80% of its customers transacting digitally. The bank has a 30% cross-border “scan-to-pay” market share and 60% of the peer-to-peer payment market; transaction value in these markets rose a healthy 42% last year.
A measure of UOB’s reputation, market savvy and the quest for optimal funding was evident by its October 2024 high-profile return to the Panda bond market via a 5 billion Chinese yuan ($688.2 million) three-year, that represented the largest size achieved in that market by a Southeast Asian issuer.
Country, Territory and District Winners
Afghanistan | AIB
Afghanistan International Bank (AIB) is the country’s largest commercial bank and the only lender in Afghanistan with international clearing ability across all countries. The bank operates as a wholesale lender-focused on murabaha financing in compliance with Shariah principles – with a client base comprising multilateral organisations and NGOs, UN-affiliated entities, embassies, foreign military forces, and Afghan government institutions. Comprehensive after-tax profit in 2024 was 1.35 billion Afghan afghanis ($18.6 million) for a 4% YoY gain.
Australia | CBA
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)’s NIM rose 2bps last year to 2% , the highest among its peers in Australasia. Return on average equity was 13.1% the highest in the sector. The bank reduced loan impairment charges by 23% as household income rose due to fiscal easing. Cost-to-income was the lowest among peers at 45.4%. After-tax profit was AU$9.4 billion ($6 billion), versus nearly AU $10 billion in 2023.
Azerbaijan | ABB
The International Bank of Azerbaijan (ABB), the country’s largest bank – owning 26% of sector assets and 23% of sector loans – was upgraded by Fitch Ratings last October by one notch to BB, with a positive outlook, accompanied by a one-notch upgrade of the bank’s Viability Ratings to BB.
Bangladesh | CITY BANK
It was a torrid year for Bangladesh, which saw the country’s prime minister deposed amid widespread chaos. Yet, City Bank chalked up a stellar performance marked by some digital milestones, including the launch of CityGo, the country’s first near field communications – enabled wearable payment device, CityLive, the firs mobile app for corporate internet banking, and virtual debit and prepaid cards.
The bank now handles around 80% of transactions directly and has made inclusivity strides via lending to women entrepreneurs and through use of agents to serve the rural community. SME lending to women accounts for 26% of the loan book.
Brunei Darussalam | BIBD
Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) is Brunei’s largest and best-capitalised bank, boasting 10.4 billion Bruneian dollars ($7.9 billion) in assets as of December 2023. The bank has executed large-scale investments in fintech, sustainable finance, and regional partnerships in recent years. BIBD dominates the personal and home financing market with a 60% share, ensuring that it plays a pivotal role in driving national economic growth and meeting the goals of Brunei Vision 2035.
Cambodia | ABA BANK
In Cambodia, ABA Bank, the country’s largest commercial lender, once again excelled by all measures. The bank grew total assets by 20.2% to $13 billion and pulled in $338 million profit for a 22.2% YoY gain, making it the country’s most profitable commercial bank for the fourth year in a row and delivering 14.5% ROE to shareholders. The ABA Mobile and ABA Merchant apps are ubiquitous in Cambodia, where cashless transactions are becoming the norm. It also added an eye-popping 1 million new ABA Mobile users in 2024, for 4.2 million users of the app.
China | CCB
China Construction Bank (CCB) delivered some solid metrics in 2024 against a challenging onshore industry backdrop marked by sluggish loan demand, crimped NIM, and burst of China’s real estate bubble.
At CCB, NIM contracted 2 bps to 1.52 bps at the end of the third quarter, while asset and liability growth was steady, and capital adequacy was healthy, overall (19.35%) and at the tier 1 level (14.1%). Annualised weighted return on equity (ROE) booked a solid 11%, and the cost-to-income ratio came in at the svelte 25.25% on the back of management rationalisation. Despite all this, annual profit was up an anemic 0.65%.
Hong Kong | HSBC
“We are creating a simple, more agile, focused bank built on our core strengths,” said the new HSBC Group CEO Georges Elhedery in February, announcing the release of the banks’ annual results. The bank’s $2 billion gain in pretax profit to $32.3 billion reflects the proactive strategy of his predecessor, Noel Quinn.
Revenues were strong in Wealth and Personal Banking and Global Banking and Markets. Constant currency revenue, excluding notable items, rose by $2.9 billion to $67.4 billion. An accounting. move to position the banks’ commercial surplus to the trading book resulted in a 10 bp decline in NIM to 1.56%. ROE was 13.6%
India | STATE BANK OF INDIA
The largest commercial bank in India, the State Bank of India (SBI) dominates in assets, deposits, branches, customers, and employees. It leads the competition in financial metrics: $840 billion in assets, $50 billion in tier 1 capital, a 22% return on capital.
Some 92% of SBI’s transactions are digital, and its digital agenda has been anchored on its YONO app. The app has 81.3 million registered users, of whom 3.7 million were added in FY2025.
YoY profit in the fourth quarter of 2024 rose 84%, boosted by 13.4% credit growth across key segments, including SMEs, foreign branches, agriculture, corporates, and retail. Net interest income rose 4%, while employee expenses fell 17%.
Indonesia | BANK MANDIRI
Bank Mandiri (BM) is Indonesia’s largest bank by assets – some $147 billion on a consolidated basis last year, delivered a five-year compound annual growht rate is assets of 14.1%, one of the fastest rates in the region.
BM’s loan portfolio surged by 19.5% last year to over $101.2 billion, underpinned by the banks’ robust ecosystem. This includes large wholesale clients and a 35 million customer retail clients serviced via the Omnipresent Distribution Network strategy, which provides online and offline contact and facilitates efficient product cross-selling. In 2024, ecosystem analysis contributed to 10% of commercial loan growth and SME lending rose 25% while NPLs dropped to 1.2%.
Japan | SMBC
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), like its Japanese megabank peers MUFG and Mizuho, benefited from monetary tightening by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) last year, scoring a 43.3% profit surge in the nine months to September, booking nearly ¥1.2 trillion ($8.1 billion). All three of the megabanks scored record annual earnings thanks to the BoJ’s scrapping negative interest rate in March 2024.
Growth was delivered across all business units—retail, whole- sale, global, and global markets – for a solid 7% ROE, based on rising NIM and fees. SMBC was impressed with forward-looking risk management strategies and canny principal trading, which brought in ¥83 billion of stock market portfolio gains.
Kazakhstan | FORTE BANK
Kazakhstan’s ForteBank booked impressive data across a range of measures last year. Net profit surged by 37.7%, assets by 25.7%, loan portfolio by 32.1%, and deposits by 26.8%. Consumer lending remained the bank’s core business, followed by lending across the corporate sector.
Kyrgyzstan | DEMIR Bank
In Kyrgyzstan, DemirBank last year successfully negotiated the delicate challenge of the sanctions regime faced by its Russian neighbour, enjoying no relations with sanctioned banks. DemirBank has around a 9.2% market share in Kyrgyzstan. Its relatively small asset base of $770 million allows for a robust growth dynamic, as evidenced in the superlative 38% growth in DemirBank’s gross loan portfolio last year, way surpassing the market’s average 17% growth and garnished by the lowest NPL ratio in the domestic banking sector—just 1.8%.
Macau | ICBC MACAU
At ICBC Macau, profit surged 136%, albeit from a low base after 2023’s 97% decline. The bank continues to enjoy a cost-to- income ratio of just 29%. Macau’s banking industry remained under pressure in 2024. Still, ICBC managed to grow assets and remains the former colony’s leading banking franchise focusing on developing regions, including the Guangdong-Hong Kong Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta.
Malaysia | UOB MALAYSIA
UOB Malaysia (UOBM) is the largest foreign bank operating in Malaysia and has impressive franchises: from retail banking, where UOBM’s presence was strengthened by parent UOB’s 2022 acquisition of Citi’s consumer banking business in Malaysia; to wholesale banking – specifically financial supply chain management, wealth management, and residential mortgages.
UOBM’s total assets have grown at an impressive annual 7% clip over the past three years, bringing them to 160 billion Malaysian ringgit ($36.3 billion). Highlights on the balance sheet include a 10% rise in trade finance last year, a 93% expansion of sustainable financing, and 12% growth in the bank’s credit card business.
Mongolia | XAC BANK
Mongolia’s XacBank secured a hefty $236 million in senior loans from leading development finance institutions last year, help- ing it achieve a one-notch rating upgrade from Moody’s (to B2 stable) and Fitch (to B+). The rat- ing agencies cite the bank’s robust loan portfolio growth, low NPL ratio—just 2.2% in the first half of 2024—and solid capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 19.2% as the reasons for the upgrades. ROE and profit growth were a hearty 25.6% and 20.3%, respectively.
Myanmar | UAB BANK
In Myanmar, uab bank has demonstrated a commitment to innovation in recent years. Via the ability of customers to use their mobile phones to make ATM cash withdrawals, uab became the country’s first “paperless” bank. In 2024, the bank tied up with Manulife and KBZMs to offer bancassurance, a one-stop offering combining banking and insurance. Such savvy cross-sells propelled the bottom line and had profits surging 39.3% and ROE up at 23.2%, a nearly 7% gain com- pared to 2023.
Nepal | GLOBAL IME BANK
Nepal’s banking sector was lackluster in 2024, with profits dropping 4.6% in the first half. Retail-focused Global IME Bank avoided the downturn, posting a 49.5% profit gain for the second quarter of FY2024, which began in October. NPLs rose to nearly 4.7%, although impairment charges declined by 46%. Fees earned from the bank’s consumer and SME client base, account- ing for over half of Global IME’s loan portfolio, rose by 17.3%.
New Zealand | ANZ NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand’s banking sector faced headwinds in 2024, thanks to a restrictive cash policy rate and moribund economic growth. ANZ New Zealand (ANZ NZ) bested the competition last year in the face of rising costs and reduced revenue: Expenses rose 6%, while revenue gained an anemic 1%, albeit with the positive gloss of a 4% rise in home lending—in which it commands a dominant market share—and a 7% rise in funds under management.
“As interest rates come down, inflation is controlled and businesses feel more confident, there is a sense of cautious optimism surrounding New Zealand’s economic future,” said Antonia Watson, CEO of ANZ NZ, in last November’s earnings report.
Pakistan | MEEZAN BANK
Pakistan’s Meezan Bank reaped the rewards of building a strong Islamic franchise. Shariah-compliant financing contributed to the bank’s 27% after-tax profit gain in 2024 and frothy investment portfolio performance. Operating expenses were up, but increased fee and commission income and securities gains filled the gap.
Philippines | BDO
The Philippines’ BDO Unibank delivered the highest full- year net income in the country’s history last year – a barnstorming 82 billion Philippine pesos ($1.4 billion) for a 12% YoY gain, delivering over 15.1% ROE thanks to its strong performance. NPLs were just over 1.8%, substantially below the domestic industry’s nearly 3.3%, and net interest and non-interest income grew 8%.
The CAR was enhanced by issuing BDO’s second and third ASEAN sustainability bonds of 63.3 billion pesos and 55.7 billion pesos in January and July 2024, respectively, with funds earmarked for sustainable projects within the Philippines.
Singapore | DBS
Piyush Gupta is retiring this year after 16 years as CEO of Singapore’s DBS. It is fitting that after engineering the bank’s rise to top status in APAC, thanks in recent years to a full-blooded embrace of digital technology, he goes out with a bang, having last year delivered record total income for the bank – a heady 22.3 billion Singapore dollars ($17 billion) resulting in an 11% net profit gain to SG$11.4 billion, another record, while its ROE reached 18%.
South Korea | HANA BANK
South Korea’s Hana Bank booked a record, over 3.7 trillion South Korean won ($2.6 billion) net income in 2024, a year- on-year (YoY) gain of 9.3%. This stellar result allowed Hana to buy back and cancel 400 billion won, its largest buy back. ROE rose by 17 bps to 9.12%, and NIM increased by 5 bps to 1.46%.
The bank rode a 59% surge in fee income last year, with 41.5% provided by the investment banking franchise and 40% by the group’s securities division. Hana’s corporate and household loan book also climbed by 5.9%, and the nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio was a minuscule 0.3%. NPL coverage was a solid 182%, backed by a 16.3% tier 1 capital ratio.
Sri Lanka | COMMERCIAL BANK OF CEYLON
Sri Lanka’s largest privately owned lender, Commercial Bankof Ceylon (CBC), entered a new era last year via the appointment of a new chairman and deputy chairman: industry veterans Sharhan Muhseen and Raja Senanayake, respectively. Under their leadership, CBC raised over 22.5 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($75.4 million) via rights and debenture issuances in 2024, each oversubscribed and the largest in its asset class from a Sri Lankan financial institution.
The bank’s performance underscores Sri Lanka’s return to relative normalcy after the political and financial turbulence of recent years. In 2024, CBC’s outstanding metrics were over 128.3% after-tax profit growth, 17% CAR, and a lean 31.5% cost-to-income ratio, a nearly 5% YoY decline.
Taiwan | CTBC
In Taiwan, CTBC ’s core franchise is focused on midsize and large corporations, high net worth individuals (HNWIs) and families, and the mass-market segment in the country’s retail banking sector. The bank also supports small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) via its subsidiary, Tokyo Star Bank.
CTBC delivered an 18% growth in profit last year of 62.8 billion Taiwan new dollars ($1.9 billion) and a solid 13.1% ROE, leading the local industry in revenue, profit, and capital scale.
Thailand | BANGKOK BANK
In Thailand, Bangkok Bank bested its peers last year, again enjoying a dominant market share in deposits and loans of 18.4% and 17.7%, respectively. Total CAR was a comfortable 20.4%, income rose 5% to generate 8.6% profit growth, and ROE was a solid 8.3% for the year. The bank is one of the largest regional banks in Southeast Asia by total assets and has a network that spans 14 economies, from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to Japan, China, the US and UK. The bank supports Thai companies seeking to expand across the region and inter- nationally, as well as foreign entities doing business in Thailand.
Uzbekistan | NBU
The National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU) emerged triumphant last year in a domestic banking sector beset by woes. Nine lenders reported losses, while industry profits declined by 50%, mainly due to rising NPLs. NBU booked the highest profit in the domestic industry, over 1.7 trillion Uzbekistani sums ($131 million).
Vietnam | TECHCOMBANK
Techcombank’s 2024 suc- cess in Vietnam can best be told in its stock-price performance, which rose 60% last year against a 6% fall in the MSCI Vietnam Index. That move reflects a solid business model that includes the country’s top real estate franchise, a 50% market share of the country’s HNWIs, the top credit card franchise, and primary bond market leadership.
Digital banking usage has surged across Europe in the last decade, as the way we bank has been transformed dramatically. The percentage of EU citizens using online banking in the last decade has risen from 42% to 67%, in Spain that number was closer to 75% in 20241.
CaixaBank’s growth in digital channels reflects these trends. The Bank is, by some distance, the leading digital bank in Spain. It has the largest digital customer base, which in 2024 grew from 11.5 million customers to 12.1 million.
The bank’s digital lifestyle platform for younger customers, imagin, has surpassed 3.5 million banking customers – growth of 11% on the previous year, with almost half of CaixaBank’s new customers in the last year being recruited through imagin. Customer loyalty is increasing, with 50% of adults directly depositing their salary into the bank.
At the app user level, which includes all those who do not make financial operations but make use of the imagin app’s non-banking services, the number of imaginers now exceeds 4.5 million.
This data reinforces imagin’s position as a leading neobank and consolidates its position as a leader among young people. According to GfK statistics, imagin has a 48% market share among the main neobanks and fintechs in the 18-34-year-old segment in Spain.
In addition to increasing the number of new users, the platform has also managed to strengthen the loyalty of imaginers. In terms of activity volume, the application has an average of 60 million monthly visits and more than 11 million transactions per month are conducted through Bizum, 15% more than in 2023.
Imagin complemented its portfolio in 2024 with new products such as a fee-free debit card for use abroad, and financing and investment options, making it the only neobank with a complete banking offer tailored to a young and 100% digital audience.
The bank’s hybrid remote assistance service InTouch has more than 3.3 million users. InTouch is a new relationship model that combines remote communication tools (video call, voice call, email, WhatsApp, etc.), with the relationship of trust provided by an expert manager.
CaixaBank is also the leader in traditional website channels: this includes CaixaBankNow, the reference application for CaixaBank customers, and imagin.
Overall, CaixaBank leads in Spanish digital banking with a 45.4% penetration on digital banking users in Spain at year-end 2024.
Spain’s drive for digital
The bank’s digital transformation is to some extent a mirror for Spain’s early adaptation to an increasingly digital and competitive global landscape.
In the latest State of the Digital Decade report outlined by the European Union, Spain stood out thanks to two main strengths, the large number of citizens with basic digital skills (66.2%), compared to the European average (55.6%), and the progress in the use of artificial intelligence by companies (9.2 %) compared to 8% in Europe.
CaixaBank’s recently launched Strategic Plan for 2025-2027 outlines an ambitious vision for the future, fully in line with the country’s determination to maintain leadership in digital innovation.
Among many commitments, the plan earmarks €5 billion in investment towards AI, cloud computing, and automation. This initiative, known as the Cosmos plan, aims to enhance operational efficiency, develop new customer-centric digital services, and strengthen the bank’s technological infrastructure.
Investing in Innovation for the Future
One of the most transformative aspects of CaixaBank’s digital strategy is its integration of AI into customer interactions. AI-powered tools facilitate automated financial recommendations, conversational banking assistants, and enhanced fraud detection, streamlining both user experience and internal operations.
AI-powered tools will allow for automated financial recommendations, conversational banking assistants, and self-service options for customers. The technology will also streamline internal processes, reducing administrative burdens on bank employees while improving decision-making and fraud detection.
A key trend in this shift is the growing emphasis on technological talent, and the concern around this topic is highlighted in The Global Risks Report 2025, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), where the shortage of skilled talent stands out as one of the key risks businesses must navigate this year. As digital banking evolves, institutions are increasingly expanding their technology hubs to attract specialists in AI, cybersecurity, and cloud computing.
Spain has again emerged as a leader in this space, with financial institutions investing heavily in developing digital capabilities. Technology jobs are growing faster in Spain than anywhere else in the world, according to the Equinix 2023 Global Tech Trends Survey.
CaixaBank, for example, has outlined an ambitious plan to strengthen its technological infrastructure while expanding its tech subsidiary, CaixaBank Tech, which is undergoing significant expansion with a goal to reach a total of 2,000 employees within the next three years. The offices in Barcelona, Madrid, and the new centre in Seville will become talent-attracting technological hubs.
Enhancing Digital and Mobile Banking Services
Digitalisation is not just about cutting-edge AI. The rise of mobile-first banking is reshaping the financial landscape, as consumers increasingly expect seamless, secure, and accessible digital services. Across the industry, banks are investing in mobile platforms to meet the needs of a generation that prefers managing finances on the go.
67% of bank account holders in Spain handle banking via mobile devices, this trend has driven significant innovation, from digital-only banking models to flexible payment solutions that integrate with everyday mobile experiences. And it was way back in 2016 that CaixaBank’s imagin service became the first in the world where all transactions are performed using only apps for mobile phones or social media.
Today, according to data from the bank, more than 30% of in-person purchases made in Spain with CaixaBank cards are now being done via mobile phones. The bank has around 4.4 million customers with cards linked to mobile devices, figures that are on the rise, with more than 800 million transactions in the last 12 months.
Collaboration is key
Partnerships between banks and tech companies are also shaping the next generation of digital transactions. In line with this, and as a further demonstration of the bank’s firm commitment to improving the customer experience, CaixaBank, through CaixaBank Payments & Consumer, has signed a pioneering agreement with Apple.
As a result of this partnership, CaixaBank customers with iOS 18 and iPadOS18 will soon have the option to pay in full or spread the cost over multiple months directly at the point of purchase when paying with their CaixaBank cards in Apple Pay. Customers that decide to choose this option will have the choice to do so when shopping online using Apple Pay and in-app on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
This new functionality will allow customers to see payment options available to them, understand cost including any interest, and choose how they’d like to pay before completing their purchase.
Meeting the needs of a digital-first generation
As digital banking evolves, financial institutions are placing greater emphasis on automation and cybersecurity to enhance efficiency and protect customers. AI-driven analytics are enabling banks to deliver hyper-personalised financial solutions, helping individuals make more informed decisions. At the same time, advanced security frameworks, including real-time fraud detection and AI-powered risk management, are becoming critical in safeguarding digital transactions.
In Spain, financial institutions have been recognised for their strong commitment to digital security. Many banks have implemented next-generation fraud detection systems and encryption technologies to safeguard transactions. CaixaBank, for example, has been acknowledged for its advanced cybersecurity measures, reinforcing the industry’s broader push to ensure secure digital banking experiences.
As Spain’s financial sector continues to embrace digital innovation, its commitment to technology, security, and inclusivity will position it as a leader in shaping the future of banking in an increasingly digital world.
Chairman and CEO Randall Atkins sits down with Global Finance to discuss the company’s entry into the sector.
When Nasdaq-listed, Kentucky-headquartered metallurgical coal developer Ramaco Resources announced in 2023 that it discovered rare earth elements in its Wyoming coal mine—where they weren’t expected—the developer became the latest participant in the estimated $7.2 billion rare earths market. The company, which posted $11.2 million in net profit on $666.3 million in revenue in 2024, plans to begin pilot production and processing of rare earth metals later this year.
Global Finance: It sounds like Ramaco Resources had a happy accident discovering rare earth elements in its Brook Mine project in Wyoming.
Randall Atkins: It was certainly a surprise. The way that the discovery evolved is that we were doing various research with the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) on carbon products that could be made from the carbon within coal.
And part of NETL’s directive, I guess it goes back to about 2017 or 2018, was that the [US] Department of Defense had tasked them to discover where rare earth and critical minerals might be able to be found in the continental US because the Defense Department is concerned about supply lines of rare earths based on China’s dominance in the space.
They had asked us for coal core samples from our mine in Wyoming and, of course, from mines in West Virginia and Virginia. They did the same for several other mining groups, certainly not us specifically.
About a year later, they came back saying, “We’ve analyzed these [samples] pretty thoroughly, and we think we have discovered that you, in your deposit in Wyoming, may have some of the highest concentrations of medium and heavy rare earths that we’ve seen anywhere outside of Western China.”
GF: Has the latest round of tariffs changed the economics of developing this site?
Atkins: Well, it certainly has in the short term and likely will in the longer term. So, since the tariffs were announced, China has imposed an embargo on selling all rare earth elements that might have potential dual civilian and military use to the US.
We have about seven rare earth elements and critical minerals at the top of our list, and five of those seven have now been banned from export by China. As part of that ban, their prices have increased because people can’t get their hands on them.
GF: Ramaco is focusing on the heavier metals that China no longer exports to the US?
Atkins: We’re focusing on the medium and heavy rare earths. I mean, I’ll give you some names: neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium. Those are the four primary rare earths; the primary critical minerals are gallium, germanium and scandium. Those are the seven that we have and that we’re focused on. However, we have about 11 additional rare earths. Things like cerium, gadolinium, yttrium, et cetera, that are not as valuable as the seven that I first named.
GF: Can private industry develop the necessary infrastructure to process these ores independently, or is a public-private partnership needed?
Atkins: We were involved with NETL in discovering this. We have had conversations with the [US] government about other ways that they might get involved as we go further up the development chain, either from partnering with us in some fashion financially as we develop the processing or getting involved somehow in the procurement through the Defense Department, which is trying to establish new supply lines.
GF: Does this give you pause to see if you have thrown away rare earths from other mines?
Atkins: Yeah, great point. And indeed, NETL and others have looked at various coal seams across the country, and there has been discussion about finding rare earths in coal ash from power plants or acid mine drainage, without the need to extract new coal. Of course, the short answer to your question is no, we did not find rare earth in our other deposits back in the East … nor has anybody else, in sufficient concentration in those coal seams to make it economic.
GF: Where does Ramaco fit in the mine-to-magnet supply chain?
Atkins: Think of the supply chain as a food chain: once the ore is extracted from the ground in its raw form, it’s then beneficiated and processed into a concentrate. The concentrate then has all the elements mixed together. The next step is to separate the rare earth from the concentrate to make oxides, which are used to make metals.
The long answer is “Yes.” We will look at the possibility of taking this from mine to magnets because of the size of the overall deposit. We could also potentially go from mine to semiconductors because we could make semiconductor wafers. In addition to the rare earths, we have three critical minerals, which are now banned from exporting by China, gallium, germanium, and scandium, that can be used in the semiconductor process. So, given the size of what we’ve got over some time, certainly not on day one, we will try to take it as far up the value chain as we can.
GF: How long will it take to develop the necessary processing capabilities?
Atkins: We have been working on this with the Fluor Corporation for about a year and a half to identify the appropriate flow sheet and the refining models that would be used. And indeed, they’re in the process of designing the pilot plant.
So, what we will do from a development standpoint is we’ll start large-scale mining in June, and the larger material will then be used in a pilot plant, which we will start in August or September. Hopefully, we’ll have the pilot facility start the initial processing by the end of the year. That will run for a better part of a year. We plan to transition from the pilot to a full-scale commercial facility by the end of 2026. That would probably take about a year and a half to construct. So, we’re looking at probably the second half of 2028 before we would be in commercial production. Still, given the magnitude of what we would be building, that’s a reasonably quick timeframe.
Building on a profitable and dynamic 2023, when high interest rates buoyed bank lending margins, most Western European banks had a strong 2024, ending the year with a spurt in net income and revenue growth. Many increased their focus on sustainable finance (with green bonds as a major growth area), diversified their revenue streams, and invested in new banking technology—modernizing existing apps and exploring new possibilities.
Healthy profitability was particularly notable among larger banks with an extensive branch network and strong franchises, and among banks in Southern and Southeastern Europe with large shares of the local market. In addition, banks benefited from strong investor sentiment. According to global consultancy EY, between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the fourth quarter of 2024, European bank shares rose 18%, “outperforming US banks and broader European indices by 10 percentage points.”
EY pointed out that the strong underlying position of most European banks earlier in the year enabled them to face a changing outlook toward year-end. There was a strong uptick in geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility, helping to bolster trading revenues, which were up across the board in Western Europe. Interest rates fell in some cases, and interest rates will continue to fall into 2025.
Wealth management and investment banking were growth areas, according to Nigel Moden, banking and capital markets lead at EY. “Investment banking revenues at [European banks] reached their highest levels since 2009, driven by broad-based strength across fee-generating activities and trading operations. M&A and IPO fees increased by 32% compared to 2023, although they remain below their 10-year averages,” he posted on EY’s website.
At the end of 2024, the European Central Bank (ECB) published its annual Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process, with the authors concluding that the banks of the euro area—into which most of this year’s winners fall—remained resilient in 2024. “On average, banks maintained solid capital and liquidity positions, well above regulatory requirements,” they conclude. “The aggregate Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio stood at 15.8% in mid-2024, which is a slight improvement compared with the previous year. The leverage ratio increased slightly to 5.8%. Higher interest rates continued to sustain banks’ profitability.”
In a few notes of warning, they add that “concerns around banks’ governance, risk management—including climate and nature-related risks—and operational resilience persist and require swift remediation due to the uncertain risk environment.”
Regional Winner
Gonzalo Gortazar, CEO, CaixaBank
Best Bank in Western Europe | CAIXABANK
CaixaBank has repeated its win of the Best Bank in Western Europe award and Best Bank in its home country, Spain. The country’s third-largest bank, with assets of €631 billion (about $657 billion), has a broad international representation; but its focus continues to be domestic. The bank holds impressive positions in key consumer segments, including 23.4% of consumer lending, almost 25% of consumer deposits, 23.7% of investment funds, and 34.3% of pension plans. Given Spain’s strong economic performance, this domestic emphasis has helped play into profits—last year, these were nearly €5.8 billion, up 20.2% on 2023’s more than €4.8 billion—while gross income was almost €15.9 billion, up 11.5% from 2023. Net interest income in 2024 was up almost 10% at €11.1 billion, and return on equity (ROE) reached 15.4% from 13.2% in 2023. In December, Fitch Ratings upgraded the bank to A-, citing Spain’s improved operating environment and the bank’s improved profitability and asset quality.
CaixaBank has finished its integration of the Spanish stateowned Bankia, with which it merged in 2021. Related synergies have helped CaixaBank reduce costs relative to income: In 2024, the bank’s cost-income ratio stood at 38.5% against 2023’s 40.9%. Asset quality improved, with the nonperforming loan ratio in 2024 standing at 2.6%, below the target of 3% and down from 2023’s 2.7%.
Spain enjoyed some of the fastest economic growth in the eurozone in 2024, a standout year for the bank’s wealth management business. Revenues totaled €1.8 billion, up 12.1%, and wealth management balances rose strongly by 11.7% to €263.3 billion. Net inflows to mutual funds, savings insurance, and pension plans continued to grow strongly. As a result, CaixaBank extended its market-share leadership in wealth management, claiming 29.5% of the market and widening the gap with its competitors.
Between 2021 and the end of 2024, CaixaBank mobilized nearly €86.8 billion in sustainable finance, far exceeding its original target of €64 billion. The bank continues to press forward with ambitious sustainable banking targets, mobilizing nearly €36 billion in 2024 alone.
Rating agencies have recognized the strength and versatility of CaixaBank’s business model. Toward the end of 2024, Fitch and S&P each upgraded the bank’s credit ratings, citing the bank’s sound funding and liquidity. Fitch highlights CaixaBank’s “diversified business model [which] underpins its resilience through economic cycles” and its “risk control framework and limits [which] are comprehensive, sound and commensurate with its business model.” Fitch also praises the bank’s “sound and resilient profitability,” noting that it will further benefit from “higher business volumes and strong income generation from wealth management and insurance.”
Country, Territory and District Winners
Andorra | CREAND CREDIT ANDORRA
Returning for the fifth time in a row as the Best Bank in Andorra, Credit Andorra has fully integrated Vall Banc, the acquisition of which was completed three years ago. The bank is now widely known as Creand Credit Andorra. With over €51.7 billion under management, profit increased by over 60% to nearly €71.3 million in 2024.
Austria | UNICREDIT BANK AUSTRIA
Net profits for this year’s Austrian winner, UniCredit Bank Austria, were up 14.2% over 2024, reaching approximately €1.3 billion. This seals a very satisfactory year for the institution, whose total assets now stand at around €105.3 billion. In the year in which Bank Austria celebrated 20 years as part of the UniCredit group, the bank consolidated its leading position in corporate banking, wealth management, and private banking. With an extensive network of over 104 branches across Austria, it has become the national leader in mobile banking, with usage now at 63%, well above the market average of 55%. Already, 21% of Bank Austria customers see themselves as digital-only users, compared to the market average of 15%.
Belgium | BNP PARIBAS FORTIS
BNP Paribas Fortis has earned its award as the Best Bank in Belgium after an impressive and rewarding year. This continued into early 2025 when the bank released the latest version its Easy Banking App. It enables users to look at their financial activities in real time and load their activities with other banking groups (like ING, Belfius, or KBC) through the app. The bank worked with Swedish fintech company Tink to develop the app.
Cyprus | BANK OF CYPRUS
With assets of just under €26 billion, the Bank of Cyprus—the primary beneficiary of Cyprus’ 2012-14 financial crisis—had another great year, with preliminary results for 2024 suggesting a 4% increase in after-tax profits to a record €508 million. The Bank of Cyprus is a key financial actor on the island: The bank now has 38% of deposits and 43% of loans, while its digital sales platform Genius enables seamless connection of its customers and businesses with suppliers and other companies. In a strategic repositioning, the Bank of Cyprus—whose market capitalization is now €2.3 billion—has moved its listing from the London to the Athens Stock Exchange.
Denmark | DANSKE BANK
Danske Bank—our winner in Denmark—consolidated its lead over domestic rivals, reporting total assets of over 3.7 trillion Danish kroner (about $518 billion) by the end of 2024 with solid results, building on 2023’s recovery. For 2024, the bank reported net profits of 23.6 billion kroner, up 11.1%; and total income of 56.4 billion kroner, up 7.8%. ROE in 2024 was 13.4% against 2023’s 12.7%.
Finland | NORDEA
The Best Bank in Finland, Nordea, which has benefitted from the country’s membership in the European Single Market, further consolidated its dominance of the sector with total assets worth €623.4 billion, up €39 billion in 2023, and a nearly 62.7% market share (based on total assets). The bank’s 2024 operating profit was over €6.5 billion, up 2.5% year on year.
France | BNP PARIBAS
BNP Paribas won this year’s award as Best Bank in France, despite sluggish growth in its commercial and retail operations in 2024, reflecting the broader economic picture in France. However, the division rebounded in the final quarter, recording growth of 4.7%. A revival in investment banking helped the bank to lift its profits by more than 15% in the fourth quarter. The bank, France’s largest lender, said it would launch a new strategic plan to boost the profitability of its domestic business, increasing the profitability of commercial and personal banking in France to the level of the wider group. Growth at BNP is expected to be boosted by the integration of Axa Investment Managers, acquired from French insurer Axa last year in a €5.1 billion deal.
Germany | COMMERZBANK
For our German winner, Commerzbank, Germany’s thirdlargest bank, last year was big, with assets of €555 billion in 2024. Its net profits hit a record €2.7 billion, a rise of 20% over 2023 and an increase of more than 50% from 2022. The bank aims to increase its net result to €4.2 billion by 2028. With its upgraded “Momentum” strategy, Commerzbank has set significantly more-ambitious targets than before, focusing strongly on small businesses and on private customers and wealth management. The return on tangible equity (ROTE) is expected to improve to 15% by 2028. This means that the bank will earn significantly more than its cost of capital and be a well-established player among the successful European banks.
The bank entered 2025 fighting a hostile bid from our Italian winner, UniCredit. The latter received ECB approval in March to up its stake in the German bank to 29.9%. However, UniCredit has indicated it will probably wait until 2026 before announcing its future strategy.
Greece | EUROBANK
The winner as Best Bank in Greece, Eurobank, has earned the title after an impressive 2024. With a vast international presence in Bulgaria, the UK, Luxemburg, and Cyprus, Eurobank Holdings had assets of nearly €100 billion, as of September 2024. The bank reported net earnings of €1.45 billion in 2024, up 27% on 2023. In early 2025 it completed the purchase of an additional 37.5% of Hellenic Bank in Cyprus, bringing its total holding close to 100%. The entity is to be merged with Eurobank Cyprus to compete against Bank of Cyprus, the other main bank on the island.
Eurobank argues that its business success reflects its wide range of activities, including “egg” (enter, grow, go), a business startup plan aimed at small and midsize enterprises and now the second-largest such scheme in Eastern Europe. Another bank initiative is Trade Corridors, a “phygital” business network aimed at helping Greek businesses locate and do business with potential global partners.
Iceland| LANDSBANKINN
Iceland’s largest bank, Landsbankinn returns as the Best Bank in Iceland for a second consecutive year. Holding some 40% of the domestic retail market, profit in 2024 was 37.5 billion Icelandic krónur (about $271 million) after taxes, up from 33.2 billion krónur in 2023. ROE in 2024 was 12.1%, lending was up 10.8%, and customer deposits increased by 17.2%. The Smart Savings app saw customer usage rise by almost 40% last year.
Ireland | AIB
Allied Irish Bank (AIB) has earned the title of Best Bank in Ireland for the second year in a row. It delivered a strong 2024 performance with a profit after tax of €2.35 billion, a 26.7% ROTE, and total 2024 distributions to shareholders of €2.6 billion. Buoyed by a vibrant economy, new lending grew by 17% to €14.5 billion, while the customer base reached its highest level at 3.35 million.
Italy | UNICREDIT
Our winner in Italy, UniCredit had another impressive year, with full-year net profit up 2% to reach €9.7 billion. Net revenue grew 4% to €24.2 billion, up 4% fiscal year over fiscal year, driven by fees at €8.1 billion, up 8% on the year, reflecting strong client activity and broad product offering to the bank’s more than 15 million customers across Europe. The bank is firmly committed to sustainability and other environmental, social, and governance principles. UniCredit seeks to boost digitalization across the group. Fitch upgraded the bank to BBB+ in October 2024.
The record-breaking performance marked the 16th consecutive quarter of sustainable, profitable growth. This reflects the potential unlocked during the initial phase of the UniCredit Unlocked transformation plan. UniCredit became a unique pan-European model increasingly active in Central and Eastern Europe and in Germany. Diversified fees and high-quality net revenue growth, high organic capital generation, strong ROTE, and generous total distributions have all set the path for UniCredit to enter its next acceleration phase from 2025 to 2027. As 2025 got underway, UniCredit Italy is reported to have bought a stake in insurance giant Generali Group and to be separately trying to take over Milan lender Banco BPM, in which both groups also own a stake.
Liechtenstein | LGT
Liechtenstein’s LGT, the principality’s largest bank, owned wholly by the royal family, has had a good few years. It started 2024 with more than 58.1 billion Swiss francs (over $64 billion) in assets. To boost its asset management business in Austria, LGT is looking for acquisition opportunities in Switzerland and Germany.
Luxembourg | SPUERKEESS (BCEE)
Spuerkeess (BCEE) returns as the Best Bank in Luxembourg for the fourth consecutive year. Better known as Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat, state owned and established in 1856, BCEE has dominated banking in the duchy for decades and currently controls around 50% of the retail banking and mortgage market. BCEE successfully issued a €500 million 6NC5 senior preferred green bond on March 12, marking a significant milestone in its capital markets strategy. The bond, which was oversubscribed 3.6 times and issued under BCEE’s newly launched Green Bond Framework, will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
Malta | HSBC
HSBC takes home the award for the Best Bank in Malta after a record 2023 in which pretax profits rose 141% to €133.9 million on the back of increased net interest margins and higher earnings from its insurance subsidiary. Last year, the bank posted another pretax profit increase, of 15% to €154.5 million, and ROE was slightly up at 17.5% against 17.1% in 2023. Customer deposits increased by €16.8 million to almost €6.2 billion as of December 31, 2024. Management attributes the increase in profits to growth across all revenue lines, mainly due to higher interest rates, increased customer activity, and higher insurance subsidiary results. HSBC Malta’s strong performance hasn’t gone unnoticed; takeover talks were in the air. However, government officials were said to be opposed, arguing that Malta needs more rather than less competition among its banks.
Monaco | CFM INDOSUEZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Monaco’s CFM Indosuez Wealth Management, owned mainly by Credit Agricole, has won the laurels as the Best Bank in Monaco. The principality’s leading commercial bank, serving two out of three businesses—unsurprisingly, given its history and location—puts wealth management center stage. However, it also launched its StartUp Connections last year, a digital platform offering simplified access to an international network of startups in Monaco, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.
Netherlands | ING
Our Dutch winner, ING, with over 60,000 employees serving 40 million customers globally, is familiar to anyone who does business with or visits the Netherlands. Over 2024, the bank consolidated its position as market leader. Global assets reached approximately €1 trillion, but annual net profits for the year came in below market expectations at €6.4 billion. Income is expected to hold steady this year on the back of falling interest rates, according to CEO Steven van Rijswijk, who says the bank is looking for acquisitions this year to help boost overall performance.
Throughout 2024, the bank said it would increase focus on wholesale, personal, and private banking. In March 2025, ING announced that it had reached an agreement with Reggeborgh Groep on the acquisition of a 17.6% stake in Van Lanschot Kempen, a specialist wealth manager serving private, institutional, and investment banking clients, operating predominantly in the Netherlands and Belgium. With an existing 2.7% stake, ING will hold a 20.3% stake in Van Lanschot Kempen after the completion of the transaction.
ING has also reiterated its commitment to its climate goals, advising clients that it will either restrict or stop providing finance, on a case-by-case basis, to companies that fail to address their carbon footprint. This stands in sharp contrast to many other financial institutions that have loosened some climate targets.
Norway | DNB
Last year was a good year to be a banker in the Nordic region, with improvements in asset quality and overall performance driven by a broadly benign economic environment and market dominance for the key players. The Norwegian winner, DNB, had another solid year as the leading bank in Norway with a year-end market capitalization of 336 billion Norwegian kroner (about $29.7 billion), up from 328 billion kroner in 2023; and post-tax profits of 45.8 million kroner, up on 2023’s approximately 39.5 million kroner, a result reflecting Norway’s GDP growth of 2.1% last year against just 0.1% in 2023.
Portugal | BANCO SANTANDER TOTTA
The winner for Portugal, Banco Santander Totta, is the third-largest bank in the country by assets (€56 billion), with some 4.7 million customers. Its net profits for last year were up again, by 10.7% over 2023, to reach €990 million, an impressive reflection on the bank’s performance and Portugal’s ongoing economic recovery. The bank actively courts the youth market, offering work cafes, and is well ahead of competitors in its digital offerings. However, it has not forgotten seniors, launching a new health insurance product for them. Fitch gives Banco Santander Totta the Portuguese bank sector’s highest score, A.
Sweden | SWEDBANK
Swedbank, the country’s third-largest domestic bank, is the winner in Sweden on the back of solid results: After-tax profits for 2024 were up 2.2% to 34.1 billion kronor (about $3.1 billion), while total assets reached 3 trillion kronor, with 7.4 million private customers.
Switzerland | UBS
UBS returns for the fifth year in a row as the Best Bank in Switzerland and reflects another strong year—the complex takeover of Credit Suisse is now almost complete—in which it increased its local market share by 40% and became the world’s largest wealth management bank. The bank’s 2024 net profits were $5.1 billion, lower than the previous year but better than expected—an otherwise normal year but impacted by the ongoing Credit Suisse integration. UBS plans to buy back $1 billion of shares in the first half of 2025 and up to $2 billion in the second if there are no “material and immediate changes” to Swiss capital rules that the authorities are considering to require UBS to hold more capital.
UK | HSBC
On the back of impressive group results, HSBC wins the Best Bank in the UK award. The Group, which reports in dollars, posted a post-tax profit increase of $400 million over the previous year to $25 billion, and total group assets topped $3 trillion by the end of 2024. Last year saw several initiatives in the UK market. These included the launch of Flexipay, which lets consumers spread the cost of a large point-of-sale purchase at one of the bank’s merchant partners, whether or not the customer has an existing HSBC relationship; the relaunch of the bank’s fee-free Premier Account; and the debut of new benefits for its Premier World Elite credit card. HSBC UK also revealed its plans to double assets under management to £100 billion ($134 billion) by 2028.
So, it was another strong year for Western Europe’s leading banks. Most have positioned themselves well for 2025; although with rising geopolitical uncertainty, a possible tariff war and other negatives, 2025 looks to be very different from 2024. In its look ahead to 2025, Fitch in December noted that 80% of the region’s banks have a stable outlook, with just 4% on a negative outlook and 15% on a positive one. The rating agency also suggested that “business conditions for the banks will remain sound, resulting in another year of good performance” and maybe an increased prospect of consolidation.
The improving outlook is particularly pronounced in the southern countries, Greece, Portugal, and Spain, on the back of continued business growth. The Nordic region and the Benelux countries are facing a neutral outlook with continued strong profitability and resilient asset quality. Banks in Germany and Italy have a neutral outlook with “resilience amidst weak economic performance” (Germany) or “subdued credit demand” (Italy). By contrast, French banks face a deteriorating outlook amid “macro uncertainties and political risk.”
With the overall macro-outlook in early 2025 more uncertain than it has been in many years, it was perhaps unsurprising that the ECB announced in January that it would stress test some 96 eurozone banks over the year. The ECB’s priorities for the sector in 2025 include, among other things, strengthening bank resilience to macro-financial and geopolitical shocks, and ensuring banks address digital transformation and climate change in an efficient and meaningful way. In a fast-changing world, the healthiest West European banks—like banks everywhere else—will demonstrate genuine foresight and flexibility.
