The announcement that Standard Bank had won the Euromoney “Best Bank in South Africa”, “Best Bank on the African Continent” and also that Stanbic IBTC scooped the “Best Bond House” awards was made on July 10 at a gala awards dinner held in London.

“The awards, which acknowledge excellence in banking, are presented on an annual basis. We are proud to be named winners of these three vital categories at the banquet, which was attended by many of the key players in international financial markets,” said Clive Tasker, Standard Bank Africa Chief Executive.

Standard Bank earned the three accolades based on its performance between 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2008, a period which was marked by several key initiatives by the bank in Africa, which enforces its presence and influence in 18 countries on the continent. The sale of a 20% stake to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was also marked as a major highlight for the period.

In their 16th year, the Euromoney Awards for Excellence take into account the “geographical coverage” of a financial institution as well as their best practices in a region. In addition, the awards also consider the capabilities of a bank’s investment arms and how these complement commercial operations. Public data sources are used by the magazine to rate entrants on size and market share. These include Bloomberg, Capital Intelligence and other leading sources of information.

The Euromoney achievement follows hard on the heels of Standard Bank winning The Banker Magazine’s 2007 “Emerging Market’s Bank of the Year” and international acknowledgement through two awards early in 2008 for the work it has done in the field of HIV and AIDS communication in Africa (Global Business Coalition and Africom.net).

“The Euromoney award affirms the status of the Standard Bank Group as one of the world’s leaders in emerging markets and in Africa. We can ascribe our success to our belief in the future of the African continent, our practice of ensuring that we have strong local representation in all the markets in which we operate and our adherence to the highest standards of governance and banking practice,” says Tasker.

“We are gratified to have won the awards which we feel play a major part in portraying African markets and the prospects of the continent in a positive light,” he concluded.