UBS triumphs as Citi bounces back

The awards have attracted more participation than ever with more than 4,100 banks, corporates and investors voting, an increase of some 58% on last year's vote.

UBS managed to retain pole position with continuing loyalty from its extensive bank customer base. The Swiss bank took home no fewer than seven awards, matching last year's impressive haul and secured top nominations from banks in 13 categories. As well as taking home the overall prize for best bank in FX, it won awards in the following categories: best bank for banks, best bank in spot FX, best bank for FX prime brokerage, best bank for euro/yen trading, best bank for Swiss franc and best bank for post trade services.

Fabian Shey, global head of FX distribution at UBS, pointed to significant investment in infrastructure supporting different parts of the FX business as the major factor behind its continuing success. He said: "We have developed a dedicated structured product service team for banks. This consists of dedicated account relationship managers who stay close to institutions so that they know what their needs are."

Shey also pointed to increased investment in prime brokerage that helped it scoop this award. He said: "We now have dedicated IT staff, account relationship managers and a support services team to support prime brokerage. This helps us know what clients' needs are today, enabling us to implement services that they will use in the future." He added that the bank's investment in spot pricing technology had led to a visible improvement in the client service level, helping it to take the best bank for spot FX award.

Meanwhile, Citigroup stormed back into second place and picked up five awards including best bank in forward FX and best bank in currency options. The US bank scored solid support from voters in all three categories, moving from fifth to second among bank voters and from third to second among corporates.

HSBC scooped the top place from corporate voters, again benefiting from its extensive global capabilities. It achieved top marks from these voters in an impressive 16 categories, the highest tally of any bank in any category. It doubled its total of awards from last year to six. As well as the corporates award, it won best bank for research and strategy, best bank for FX in London, best bank for FX in Asia Pacific, best bank for emerging EMEA currencies and best bank for emerging Asian currencies.

Saxo Bank, which had been rapidly pushing its way up the rankings over the last few years, got its first award in the newly created best bank for investors category. The Danish bank also broke into the top 20 banks for the first time with an overall spot at 19, up from 22 last year.

Bank of New York, Standard Chartered, ING, Commerzbank and Fortis also saw their stock rise in this year's rankings, with all seeing significant increases in their share of the votes.

Other emerging stars in the Best Banks firmament include Bank of China, whose 24th spot reflects the growing significance of the world's most important developing market to the FX industry. Other Asian banks are also demanding a place at the top table with the Singaporean UOB, DBS and the State Bank of India all scoring top 30 spots from corporate voters.

As with all awards, there are losers as well as winners. Deutsche Bank suffered this year, seeing a drop from second to fourth spot overall. The bank particularly struggled to attract corporate votes, its position dropping to fifth from second last year. However, Deutsche did take home the important categories of best bank in structured products and best bank for euro/dollar.

Other banks whose placing fell include Merrill Lynch, who dropped to 22nd from 19th. Part of this poor performance may be due to a lack of continuity at the top, with a series of management changes at the US investment bank likely to have caused difficulty. Dresdner Kleinwort, whose senior management team recently departed to Merrill, may also have been adversely affected by staff turnover. Its ranking dropped four places to 20th.