BDO bags banking award

London-based banking and finance publication The Banker has named tycoon Henry Sy’s banking arm Banco de Oro Unibank as the “Bank of the Year” for the Philippines 2013.

The Bank of the Year Awards annually recognizes the best in the global banking sector. The magazine said this award was a testament to BDO’s “strong management, sound business model and prudent risk approach.”

BDO, a full-service universal bank that provides a wide range of corporate, commercial and retail banking services, is ranked the biggest bank in the country in terms of total assets, loans, deposits, capital and trust funds under management as of end-September.

Apart from The Banker, BDO has bagged the “best bank” in the Philippines citations from other foreign publications such as Alpha Southeast Asia, Euromoney and FinanceAsia. BDO also won the prestigious Best Asian Bank award from FinanceAsia, the first time for a Philippine bank to win the regional award.

Based on The Banker’s latest annual list of the world’s top 1,000 banks, most Philippine banks led by BDO improved their rankings.

BDO, the local bank with the highest ranking in the list, improved by 145 notches this 2013. The banking arm of tycoon Henry Sy now holds the 251st spot, rising from 396th place in 2012, on the back of an enhanced overall performance, particularly in terms of tier 1 capital, assets and profit.