BDO bags Asia award

TYCOON Henry Sy-led Banco de Oro Unibank was named “Best Asian Bank” for 2013 by FinanceAsia, making history as the first Philippine bank to win the prestigious regional award.

BDO was chosen from a shortlist that included ICBC (China), HDFC (India), Bank Central Asia (Indonesia), Shinhan Financial (Korea), Public Bank (Malaysia), DBS (Singapore), CTBC (Taiwan) and Siam Commercial Bank (Thailand).

FinanceAsia announced in a newsletter Friday that BDO had broken the winning streak for Malaysia’s Public Bank, which has won the award for the last three years.

“It represents the first time FinanceAsia has given this award to a Philippine bank, reflecting the rise in fortunes of the country, notably its improved credit rating,” the newsletter said.

FinanceAsia said the award was determined by ranking the winners of “Best Bank” in each market along several criteria, with data provided by SNL Financial. The criteria included year-on-year change in profitability, net interest margin, loan-to-asset ratios, return on equity, price-to-book ratios, non-performing loan levels and analyst ratings as well as credit ratings. Doris C. Dumlao