A close circle of banks

There’s been movement at the top of Asia Risk’s 2004 end-user poll, with HSBC climbing up to first place after three years of Citigroup dominance. But the rest of the leader board remains unchanged, signalling that only a small number of banks have the resources to mount a region-wide challenge for top spot. Research and article by Saima Farooqi

HSBC has reclaimed the top spot in this year’s Asia Risk end-user survey after three years of Citigroup dominance. Citigroup falls to second place – but only just. A mere two points separate the two banking giants. The rest of the top five remains unchanged from last year, with Deutsche Bank close behind in third place, and Standard Chartered and JP Morgan Chase in fourth and fifth place respectively, indicating that only a handful of institutions have the resources to mount a region-wide