NORWICH – In a Dec. 20, 2010, article titled “America’s Best And Worst Banks,” Forbes.com ranked NBT Bancorp as the eleventh-best bank in the nation. NBT Bancorp was one of only three institutions from the Northeast to make the top 12.

Forbes ranked the 100 largest banks, thrifts and holding companies on data provided by Charlottesville, Va.-based SNL Financial. Eight measures of financial health were used to gauge asset quality, capital adequacy and profitability. Those measures included: return on average equity; net interest margin; nonperforming loans (NPLs) as a percentage of loans; nonperforming assets as percentage of assets; reserves as a percentage of NPLs; two capital ratios (Tier 1 and risk-based); and leverage ratio. Forbes ranked the financial institutions on each measure and averaged the individual rankings to make its determination.

NBT Bancorp President and Chief Executive Officer Martin Dietrich said, “This recognition helps validate our efforts to be a high-performing financial company built on a progressive, conservative banking strategy. We will continue to view the challenges facing the banking industry as opportunities to improve our customer service and deliver long-term value to our shareholders.”