At its annual awards ceremony, Euromoney declared AccessBank the "Best Bank of Azerbaijan" for the third consecutive year.

Baku, Finance Time.  AccessBank won the award for “Best Bank of Azerbaijan” at the annual Euromoney “Awards for Excellence” in London. The Bank has received this award for the third consecutive year.

The Euromoney awards are the most prestigious in the financial world and are given to leading banks and financial institutions in more than 100 countries. The awards are given on the basis of examining the operations of the candidates by financial analysts, survey of international correspondent banks, renowned financiers and bankers. Position on the market, market share, level of banking products and services, management, professionalism of the staff, innovative characteristics and bank’s capital are among the criteria taken into account.

In its Award citation Euromoney noted that: “An SME and microfinance specialist, AccessBank is ranked eighth in Azerbaijan by total assets but easily outpaced its larger rivals in profitability last year, recording a return on equity of 20.2%, four times the sector average. Asset quality also remains a key strength for AccessBank, with NPLs still well under 1% at end-2011, and substantial gains in market share in loans and deposits 3.2% and 1.7% year on year, respectively.”

General Manager of AccessBank Andrew Pospielovsky welcomed the awards. “It is a great honor to earn Euromoney’s Best Bank Award for the third consecutive year – this was earned through the hard work and dedication of each member of AccessBank’s staff.”

The Euromoney group comprises approximately 100 different companies specializing in finance and banking. The group publishes the monthly magazine, “Euromoney”, which laid the foundation for the company in 1969.

AccessBank was established to provide access to financial services for Azerbaijan’s micro and small businesses and low and middle income households. AccessBank is recognized as the most reliable bank in Azerbaijan by Fitch International Ratings ('BB+ Outlook Stable’), and as “The Best Bank in Azerbaijan” by Global Finance (2011) and as well as “The Bank of the Year” by The Banker (2011) in their annual awards. AccessBank is 100% foreign owned by six shareholders, consisting of: the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, KfW Development Bank – the Development Bank of the German Government (20% per each), Access Microfinance Holding acting in microfinance field as a strategic investor (16.5%), and LFS Financial Systems GmbH – a German consulting company (3.5%).