New York, September 16, 2009 — Global Finance magazine (website: www.gfmag.com ) will host its thirteenth annual Best Bank Awards ceremony on October 6th, 2009, in Istanbul (Turkey), at the same time as the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank. More than 200 bank CEOs and senior financial officers and central bankers will attend the Ceremony. It will be open to journalists.

Global Finance – a monthly magazine founded in 1987 – has a long tradition in recognizing the best financial institutions in the world and its awards have become a recognized and trusted standard of excellence in finance.

Global Finance this year has identified the best banks in 123 countries, as well as the best banks globally in 11 key banking categories.

In selecting this year’s winners, Global Finance’s editorial team considered objective and subjective factors. Objective criteria included growth in assets, profitability, geographic reach, strategic relationships, new business development and product innovation. Subjective criteria included the opinions of equity and credit-rating analysts, banking consultants and others in the industry, as well as corporate financial executives. The winners are not always the biggest banks but, rather, the best banks – those with the qualities that corporations should look for when choosing a bank.

“A year after the failure of some major financial institutions, companies and investors are looking for assurance of their banks’ credit-worthiness,” said Joseph Giarraputo publisher of Global Finance. “But also, more than ever, they are demanding superior competence. Hopefully, these lists will help them find the most competent financial partners.”