Expanded Poll Finds Citibank Tops In Asian Countries For FX

In a supplement to its 1996 foreign exchange poll of the best banks in the Asia-Pacific region, AsiaMoney released an expanded survey polling corporate treasurers in India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand and found Citibank came in first in four of the seven markets polled for straight currency transactions and tops in all six markets for FX and interest rate derivatives.

The first-time survey polled 264 corporate treasurers and supplements an earlier survey of the four main markets in the region: Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Japan (FXW, May 27). The top FX service providers following Citi are: HongkongBank, Bank of America, Standard Chartered, Chemical/Chase, Deutsche Bank, Bangkok Bank, ABN Amro Bank, State Bank of India and the Thai Farmers Bank.

For derivatives, AsiaMoney's respondents named Bank of America, Chemical/Chase, Bankers Trust, HongkongBank, Standard Chartered, Deutsche, JP Morgan, Banque Nationale de Paris and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, behind Citi.

Citibank took the top slot for FX services and for derivatives overall, as well as best bank for both categories in the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan and Korea. Citi took the derivatives category alone in Thailand and India.

Citibank may have taken the bulk of categories, but several banks did manage to capture top slots in their domestic markets. In Thailand, Bangkok Bank was ranked number one in currencies, followed by Citi. In India, the State Bank of India came in first for FX, followed by Bank of America and then Citi. In Malaysia, Standard Chartered took the top slot, followed by Malayan Banking, HongkongBank and then Citi.

According to the report, Citi's dominance stems from its "fine pricing" and "slick service", which results from a "mountain of resources and a well-oiled marketing machine". But, according to the report, many of the strong domestic banks in the Asean countries could move up in future polls as many of Citi's senior managers take on treasury positions at these banks.