KUALA LUMPUR: Citi was awarded the Best Bank in Asia in 2014 by industry publication FinanceAsia, making it the sixth year in a row that the bank has won the award.

The magazine’s editorial team chose Citi after assessing various banks on their institutional and retail banking performance for the last 12 months.

Citi also picked up the Best M&A Bank award after leading over US$85 billion (RM303.11 billion) of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions in 2014, it said in a statement yesterday.

“The bank’s client work was also recognised via Deal of the Year, Best Equity Deal, Best IPO, Best Equity-linked Deal, Best M&A Deal, Best Project Financing, Best Loan and Best Private Equity Deal,” it added.

The bank was also recognised for having led the transaction that picked up the Best Country Deal award in South Korea.

“Asia is at the heart of Citi’s transformation and we are well placed to capture more of the growth opportunities in this region,” said Citi Asia-Pacific chief executive officer Stephen Bird.

The magazine’s editors said Citi won the top award for its remarkable momentum in Asia. 

“It also maintained a well-balanced split among businesses and countries. Citi has managed to harness the growing importance of Asia in a region that now accounts for a third of Citi’s global net income and a fifth of its global revenues.”

Citi helped raise over US$150 billion for clients from international capital markets in 2014 and advised on over US$85 billion in M&A.

The past year also saw the bank passing the seven million mark for digital banking users in Asia, as well as US$250 billion in client assets in the region for the first time in its history.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 9, 2015.