RMB is consistently rated number one

Our awards and recognition

Our recent awards and recognition are proof of our innovative financial solutions and being an employer of choice.

Several landmark RMB deals in securitisation, infrastructure and project finance have received local and international recognition. RMB has been publicly recognised in many areas and we are consistently rated number one - often for consecutive years - in a wide variety of areas, a few are mentioned below:

Awards received in 2009

» Talk Radio 702 – Hero acknowledgement – November 2009
RMB’s Bankers without Borders television advertisement was awarded the prestigious HERO acknowledgement on Talk Radio 702’s Ad Feature show this week.

Andy Rice, a well-respected industry critic, commended the RMB ad for being a good idea coming together with both good copy and a good visual - proof that ‘you don’t need clever stunts to get across your message’. "This is an example that you don’t need to be overly clever in advertising. A good, simple idea, on strategy, will always beat anything else hands-down . . . A simple idea, simply expressed” – Andy Rice

» Spire Awards – 4 November 2009
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) was among the top three recipients in 14 out of 20 categories in the JSE annual Spire awards.

The Spire awards recognise excellent individuals and teams who contribute to the bond market in South Africa. Voters for the award recipients include clients and bond issuers. RMB came first in four categories: Best repo team; Best inflation-linked debt house; Best general fixed income analyst; and Best interest-rate derivatives sales and structuring team. It was awarded second place in eight categories (Best fixed-income house; Best bond trading house; Best derivative trading house; Best research house; Best bond sales team; Best primary markets house; Best interest rate derivatives trading team; and Best quantitative analyst) and third in two (Best bond price making team and Best credit analyst).

Since the inception of the Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA) Spire Awards, RMB has consistently featured amongst the winning companies.

Previous years:

2008: Best derivative trading team; Best derivative trading house; Best bond trading house; Best research house; Best fixed-income house; Best Inflation-Linked Debt House; Best bond repo team; Best derivatives sales and structuring trading team and Best general fixed-income research (Theuns de Wet)
2007: Best derivatives sales and structuring trading team; Best general fixed-income research; Best securitisation team; Best origination team; Best primary markets house; Best inflation-linked debt house
2006: Best securitisation team; Best Interest Rate Derivatives House; Best Inflation-Linked Debt House

» Africa Investor Infrastructure Awards – 27 October 2009
Congratulations to our Infrastructure Finance team who won the category Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year for the Department of International Relations and Co-operation Public-Private Partnership.

RMB played the role of lead arranger and underwriter of the senior debt and is also a shareholder in the consortium. It was the first PPP to be owned by majority BEE and women-owned companies, and included a lender as a minority shareholder. It was also the first SA PPP to use CPIX-linked senior debt.

Africa Investor, a leading international investment research and communications group, designed the Awards to highlight and profile exceptional business practices and economic achievements across the infrastructure spectrum in Africa. They recognise innovative projects and reward the personalities who are driving transactions and improving the continent’s infrastructure investment climate.

» Risk Magazine – 2009
RMB won seven out of 23 awards in the Risk magazine SA Derivatives Dealer Survey 2009. It was rated 2nd or 3rd in nearly all the remaining categories (except for two where it came 4th). Winning categories include: overall winner in the currency, commodity and equity categories; as well as product winners for: interest rate swaps; inflation; USD/ZAR currency swaps and USD/ZAR currency options. RMB was second overall for Risk management advisory as well as FRA's, SA equity index options, exotic equity options, equity derivatives, warrants & credit default swaps.

Previous years:

2007: Best Interest Rate Options
2007: Best Forward Rate Agreements
2007: Best Currency Options
2007: Best Metals House 2006: Best ZAR Interest Rate Options House
2006: Forward Rate Agreements
2006: Best Metals House

» Rand Merchant Bank wins key investment banking awards – 9 June 2009
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) won all four of the key investment banking category awards in the Peer Review of the 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers survey Strategic and Emerging Issues in South African Banking.

RMB was judged by its peers as being the most successful bank for: BEE deals; listings; mergers & acquisitions; and structured finance. The peers who rated RMB included executives and CEOs from 11 domestic and 12 foreign banks. The Peer Review and Survey is conducted every two years and RMB has in prior years consistently been rated first across most investment banking categories. “The investment banking world has changed dramatically over the last year. We are extremely grateful to our peers for once again voting us leaders in investment banking in South Africa,” says investment banking co-head Peter Hayward-Butt.

“We continue to offer our clients innovative solutions to their financial needs, combined with our traditional values,” says investment banking co-head Rob Hamer. “We are delighted that our peers recognise us as fulfilling our aspirations.”

» Financial Mail Ranking the Analysts 2009
RMB's Financial Markets Research Team achieved excellent results at the annual Financial Mail Ranking the Analysts 2009 awards.

Bulent Badsha - 1st in the Fixed Interest Securities category
Jana Kershaw and Elena Ilkova - 3rd in the Credit Analysis category
Sales and Trading teams - 3rd in Fixed Interest Dealing category
RMB - 2nd in company rating

» Project Finance Magazine awards – 12 February 2009
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) has won two awards for infrastructure deals done in 2008 from UK-based Project Finance Magazine, which covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa. RMB won the Africa Public Private Partnership (PPP) Deal of the Year for the Lekki Epe Expressway in Lagos, Nigeria and the Africa Refinancing Deal of the Year for structuring the refinancing of the N3 toll road between Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Click here to view our previous awards.