How trade finance is growing in importance for banks is shown by the fact that the Euromoney trade finance survey this year attracted the highest number of votes to date, pulling in 7,255 – an 80% jump on the number recorded in 2017. This year also saw the largest number of banks nominated, with 390 institutions from around the world receiving votes, compared with 198 last year. 

Euromoney 2018 Trade Finance Survey results

Things change slowly. The key results from this year’s Euromoney’s annual trade finance survey were:

• HSBC has taken the top spot for the first time, dislodging Deutsche Bank to third place, behind UniCredit
• DBS made a strong move into the top 10 for the first time, ranking eighth. 
• Asia banks had a good showing this year, as Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ also joined the rankings, taking 12th place
• regional results:
  • HSBC, as the bank took the top place in Latin America and Middle East. It also rose one place to third in Western Europe
  • Deutsche, as it took the top spot in Apac, pipping HSBC to second
  • Deutsche also took the top place in its home market of Western Europe
• best-services rankings:
  • UniCredit took top spot. 
  • Deutsche Bank second
  • Commerzbank showed it has a committed user base, taking third place, despite only ranking fourth in the regional results for Western Europe. 

Greenwich Associates survey

The 2017 Greenwich Excellence Awards in Large Corporate Trade Finance, published October 2017, used a very different methodology, and focused on specific areas of trade finance as well as having far fewer respondents. Not surprisingly, their results highlighted many other banks - see summary results below:

Source & Copyright©2018 - Greeenwich Associates

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CTMfile take: Surveys vary enormously and highlight different aspects. The one thing they all agree on is that trade finance is a vital service for both banks and corporates.