Asian Banker Research is one of the three major units of The Asian Banker, . other units are Asian Banker Editorial and Asian Banker Forums.
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The Asian Banker launched a research division in 2003. The business compiles rankings, such as Asia Pacific banks by asset size and financial strength, CEO compensation, dividend payouts, the top 40 Islamic banking institutions in Asia, a databook of macro indicators of banking, payments and distribution, and industry performance. The division also writes management reports, research notes, country reports, and proprietary benchmarking on consumer banking technology and operations, and other topics.
The Asian Banker 300
While The Asian Banker’s research business covers a variety of research projects, its most visible product is The Asian Banker 300, a reference guide to the 300 largest banks in Asia Pacific by assets. The research comes out in September or October and is launched every year at Sibos, the large annual financial services convention organized by SWIFT. In the 2007 financial year, the 10 largest banks in the Asia Pacific region by assets were Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, Norinchukin Bank, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and National Australia Bank. This has been unchanged since the previous year.
Since 2003, the guide has added a strength ranking, which measures each of the 300 banks according to a strength formula. The formula weights assets, year-on-year growth in loans, year-on-year growth in deposits, and eight other criteria to arrive at a total strength score. Invariably, the largest banks are not necessarily the strongest banks, and in the 2007 financial year, the 10 strongest banks in the Asia Pacific region were Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Hang Seng Bank, China CITIC Bank, AXIS Bank, Westpac Banking Corporation, Bank of China, Bank of East Asia, United Overseas Bank, and ANZ. The ranking is a recognized benchmark among financial institutions in Asia, and banks that have mentioned the ranking in their investor relations materials and financial reports include Siam Commercial Bank, Maybank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, DBS, Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings and Hang Seng Bank.
Awards
The Asian Banker’s research division also conducts awards programmes. The Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme establishes the best retail banks in each country according to a variety of criteria. It also grants product awards such as “best credit card” and “best customer experience.” The award has been cited in statements by organizations such as Citibank Singapore, Gulf Bank, OCBC, Public Bank, National Bank of Dubai, ICICI Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Hong Leong Bank, GE Money and many others.
Another award series is The Asian Banker Leadership Achievement Awards, which looks at individual leadership. Past awards have been won by Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Kannikar Chalitaporn of Siam Commercial Bank, Joseph Yam of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Jiang Jianqing of ICBC, David Morgan of Westpac Banking Corporation, Aditya Puri of HDFC, Vichit Suraphongchai of Siam Commercial Bank, Teresita “Tessie” Sy-Coson of SMI Holdings, and David Conner of OCBC.
The Asian Banker also has an IT implementation awards programme that looks at the collaboration between banks and IT vendors in implementing meaningful IT projects.