Global banking succeeded in 2023 despite the drama of bank failures.
The banking sector triumphed in 2023, a year that threatened to be catastrophic. Quick industry interventions have averted the nightmare scenario of a contagion-induced financial crisis, fueled by multiple bank failures in the US and Europe.
Last year’s mini-crisis of bank failures could best be seen as the result of idiosyncratic management fatigue at the ultimately rescued banks. However, the exposed risks inherent in app-based banking and the potential for bank collapse based on rapid mass withdrawals provided a wake-up call for the sector, especially among the fast-growing neobank challengers.
As a result, boosting current account savings and improving deposit stickiness became a key focus for bank CEOs last year.
As in 2022, the environment for net interest margins (NIM) was optimal thanks to the tight monetary policy of central banks. Last year brought a dynamic that had long been absent from the fray: a positive return on equity, which reemerged after having been negative or flat in the fifteen years since the 2007-2009 global financial crisis and last year averaged 9%.
Bank profits in the Asia-Pacific region soared, with many lenders posting record high net income – even in hardened Japan, where the banking sector’s 12-year battle against negative interest rates appears to be coming to an end as that easy money regime continues to recede. to the end. China was a notable absentee from the party: a fraught real estate sector tore sentiment apart.
Last year, the global banking sector showed greater cost efficiency and improved asset quality. Yet the direction of travel will be determined by economic growth; movements in the key interest rates of central banks, especially the US Federal Reserve; the demand for credit; and the pace of loan delinquencies.
As the cost of capital came into focus and banks tried to reduce cost-to-income ratios (CTI), the sector lost 60,000 jobs globally last year, the most since the crisis. Investment banking portfolios collapsed as dealmaking and listings shriveled.
At the same time, traditional bank lending faced the threat of a booming private credit market developed by the non-bank financial sector. Leveraged buyout funds were more likely to be provided by a large hedge fund than by a large bank, and at more competitive rates.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues remained a dominant theme: in Europe as a total operational input thanks to the tightening of the regulatory straitjacket, and in Asia, where companies and banks were catching up on the sustainability game during the beginning of an ESG-focused regulatory convergence manifesting itself in the region.
Sustainable finance dominates globally across the financing spectrum, whether it is a transition model, which dominates in Japan, or the full green/impact issuance typical of Europe and the US and emerging in the Asia-Pacific region Pacific, excluding Japan.
In Europe, banks had their most profitable year ever, thanks to the NIM effect, resilient asset quality and low CTI ratios. The Bank for International Settlements’ capital requirements were in poor shape, with more capital returned to banks’ shareholders last year than at any time since the crisis.
Methodology
With input from industry analysts, business leaders and technology experts, Global finance editors select the winners for the Best Bank awards based on the information from the entries and independent research based on objective and subjective factors. It is not necessary to enter to win, but materials provided with an entry may increase the chances of success. Participants may provide details that are not publicly available.
The ratings are based on performance from January 1 to December 31, 2023. We then apply an algorithm to narrow down the list of contenders and arrive at a numerical score, where 100 equals perfection. The algorithm includes criteria weighted by relative importance, including knowledge of local conditions and customers, financial strength and security, strategic relationships, capital investments and innovation in products and services.
Once we narrow the field, our final criteria include scope of global coverage, staff size, customer service, risk management, product and service offerings, execution skills, and intelligent use of technology. In the event of a tie, our preference leans towards a local provider rather than a global institution. We also tend to favor private banks over state institutions. The winners will be the banks that best meet the specialized needs of companies engaged in global operations. The winners are not always the biggest, but they are the best: those with qualities that companies should pay attention to when choosing a provider.
