What the numbers say

Proximo Intelligence has crunched its Q3 2023 numbers and while there have been no major market upsets, there have been a few changes since the H1 report went out three months ago.

That said, Japanese and French banks continue their domination of the project and infrastructure finance (project, sovereign and corporate debt for specific projects) league tables, with only Santander giving them a run for their liquidity – although Santander only ranks fourth in its traditional stomping ground Latin America, albeit that is a one-place improvement on H2.

As for the rest of the cast in the global rankings, some of the positions have changed but the names remain the same. MUFG has kept pole position in both infrastructure finance and pure project finance with a 5.3% and 6.3% share of global lending respectively.

In North America MUFG also retains both top MLA spots with almost double the volume of its nearest rival Santander. Mizuho takes third place, up from tenth in infrastructure finance and sixth in project finance in H2.

As for US banks active in the domestic market, only Wells Fargo and JP Morgan make the top 15 MLA list – Wells Fargo having dropped from eighth in H2 to eleventh in Q3. Many US lenders have long struggled to match the tenors that European, Asian, and even Canadian banks can offer in project finance – and for long-lived infrastructure assets, tenor is key. In addition, many do not take MLA roles – for example BofA, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo all often lend alongside their tax equity or investment banking operations, which constitute their focus.

In the Middle East and Africa, local lenders First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) top the rankings – a region normally dominated by international lenders. The jump to the top of the table by the two local lenders – FAB was third in project finance in H2 and ADCB tenth – is arguably a measure of resilient local liquidity in the GCC.

In Asia, MUFG has dropped from the number one spot for project finance in H2 to fourth by end of Q3. SMBC, HSBC and Societe Generale have jumped a slot accordingly, taking the first second and third positions respectively.

In Europe, Santander takes pole position in Q3, both in infrastructure finance and project finance – a climb from fourth in H2. LBBW has also climbed into the top 15 for project finance in the past three months – an achievement given it did not make it into the ranking in H2.

On the sector side, French and Japanese banks take eight of positions in the Q3 top 10 global ranking for project finance in power and renewables – only Santander and Nord/LB feature alongside banks from those nations.

These are just some of the highlights from the Q3 league tables report, which also complements the Project Finance Research report 2023. All the reports cited in this article are available to subscribers through this link.