<B>North America</B>

Best Domestic Bank: Fifth Third Bank
Best Foreign Bank: HSBC
Best Domestic Equities House: Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
Best Foreign Equities House: Deutsche Banc Alex Brown
Best Domestic Bond House: DLJ
Best Foreign Bond House: TD Securities
Best Domestic M&A House: Goldman Sachs
Best Foreign M&A House: Deutsche Banc Alex Brown

George Schaefer has a very simple recipe for banking. "We buy money at 4%, sell at 8%, and don't get involved in every new fad," says the CEO of Fifth Third Bank. You might think that's the sure-fire way to kill off your bank, but Fifth Third is by far the most successful bank in the US as measured by profitability, shareholder value, customer contentment, staff retention, successful mergers and a host of other criteria.

The bank, which is one of the top 15 in the US by market capitalization, has increased earnings every year for 26 years ­ the last 10 of which have involved double-digit growth ­ and has average earnings growth of 17.5% for the past 26 years. It boasts the best expense ratio in the business, at 40% (the norm is 55-60%), has a P/E ratio double the industry average, and is rare in that it only acquires other institutions if they add to the bottom line.