OREANDA-NEWS. On 23 January 2009 was announced, that based on the results of 2008, JSC BTA Bank tops the rankings of Kazakhstan’s financial institutions according to the annual study of the nation’s 50 best companies by the business publication Exclusive.

BTA Bank was the most spoken-about financial institution with 55.6% of respondents naming it the nation’s best and also scored the most points in brand recognition with an average of 5.00 on a five-point scale.

"BTA Bank is famous for the strides it has made in our points table due to its striking, unorthodox, creative image with a novel management style. The Bank is also the only financial institution from Kazakhstan which is at home in foreign markets", pointed out Zarina Pahirdinova, the project’s manager.

BTA Bank attaches great importance to its leadership in the Rating of Reputations since in times of crisis it is the stability factor that very often drives the consumer’s choice.

The study has been held by the editorial research group for 5 years running and included questionnaires and the polling of focus groups, which were made up of 755 mid and top-level managers this year. A total of 1,185 companies were mentioned in the course of the study.

BTA Group – is a leading banking network within the CIS.

As of Q3 2008, BTA Bank's consolidated assets were equal to KZT 3 671bn (USD 30,6bn), credit portfolio amounted to KZT 2 814bn (USD 23,5bn). As of Q3 2008, BTA Bank's consolidated net profit comprised KZT 35,2bn (USD 293ml).

The network of BTA’s partner banks extends to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. BTA’s representative offices operate in Russia, Ukraine, China and UAE.

The bank has one of the largest branch networks in Kazakhstan (22 branches and 279 service outlets) along with an extensive chain of ATMs (787) and self-service terminals (160). BTA serves near 1.3 million retail and 150,000 corporate clients.

In 2008 BTA has increased by 100 points within the year, shifting from 295 to 173 place among top world banks, ranks The Banker, one of the reputable business magazines. In 2006 and 2007, BTA was named the "Bank of the Year in the CIS", based on a poll of the Commonwealth’s leading financial experts by the influential Itogi magazine, and "Best Bank in Central Asia" according to the Euromoney. Oxford-based European Business Assembly (EBA) awarded to BTA its 2007 "Best Enterprise of Europe" in the banking sector of Eurasia.