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Oct 31, 2024 | 
gfmag.com | David Sanders
For the commercial banking sector, continuous innovation, strong product development and customer service, and effective risk management are just some of the critical elements necessary to sustain and grow a franchise. The banks included among our 50 Safest Commercial Banks continue to demonstrate leadership in their respective markets to earn a spot in this year’s rankings.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
gfmag.com | David Sanders
The institutions in our 50 Safest Emerging Markets Banks rankings are facing a challenging operating environment from rising geopolitical tensions, potential disruptions of global trade, and commodity price volatility. Many banks have posted solid operating performance in recent years, as successive interest rate hikes reduced inflation in their regions and globally and also boosted profitability with expanded net interest margins.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
gfmag.com | David Sanders
Islamic banks based in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries continue to expand their reach, taking on Shariah-compliant transactions in new industries and establishing new strategic partnerships. That aggressive approach has already paid off in years of double-digit growth, and the outlook remains favorable.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
gfmag.com | David Sanders
The common thread running through this year’s country winners is the resilience they demonstrated during a period of higher interest rates linked to central bank efforts to tame rising inflation. Now, inflation is declining globally and central banks have begun to ease rates as their focus shifts to sustaining economic growth. That means banks face a different set of challenges and opportunities.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
gfmag.com | David Sanders
Global Finance’s 2024 ranking of the world’s 50 largest banks highlights institutions that have built powerful franchises in their respective markets, with extensive rosters of corporate, commercial, and retail clients. Their sheer size makes them industry leaders, and by leveraging thier diverse banking platforms they have grown their balance sheets.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
gfmag.com | David Sanders
China continues to search for antidotes to an ailing economy and the deterioration of its real estate market, and the banking sector continues to expand. GDP growth rose to 5.2% in 2023, up from 3% in 2022, but it is now forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fall to 4.8% in 2024 and further, to 4.5%, the following year. Meanwhile, China has contributed to balance sheet growth for each of the institutions that earned a place in our ranking of the biggest emerging market banks.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
gfmag.com | David Sanders
Global banks face competing priorities. While a shifting interest rate cycle forces them to compete in a new landscape, they must continue to focus on transforming their business models to maintain revenue growth and profitability. This will be an especially big challenge for banks in regions and countries that are experiencing weak GDP growth. Significant geopolitical risks remain as well, as the Israel-Hamas war widens and the conflict in Ukraine and Russia drags on.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
gfmag.com | David Sanders
With China’s struggling economy, the country’s banking sector is facing significant growth headwinds, as policymakers attempt to halt the deteriorating economy with a recent wave of monetary and fiscal measures. The economy has been mired in a slump, due in part to the ongoing real estate crisis that involves large inventories of unsold housing units and unfinished properties.
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Oct 11, 2024 | 
gfmag.com | Rob Daly |Thomas Monteiro |David Sanders |Andrew Singer
Banks face an uphill battle as supply chains remain disrupted, regional conflicts continue to build, and the fear of bank failure returns. Despite this, select financial institutions have threaded the needle and delivered stellar performances to their clients and shareholders over the past year. JPMorgan Chase takes the top honor as Global Finance’s World’s Best Bank for 2024, as well as the World’s Best Investment Bank and World’s Best Private Bank.
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Jul 24, 2024 | 
gfmag.com | David Sanders
On the African continent, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) strives to exceed the expectations of its clients by combining high levels of service with an exceptional technological platform to deliver effective sub-custody solutions covering all elements of trade transactions, as well as reporting and analytics. With the success of this approach, RMB is our regional winner in Africa and country winner in South Africa. RMB is a division of FirstRand Bank, one of Africa’s largest banking groups.
