Malaysia

JPMorgan’s long-time boss in Kuala Lumpur, Steve Clayton, likes to say: ‘Don’t look at the length of the list, look at the size of the wallet.” Clayton and his team may not have done the most deals in KL this year — take a bow Credit Suisse — but they can claim to have done the biggest and the more interesting.

Maybank chief executive Abdul Farid Alias is enjoying good times. The bank that he has run for four years is purring along, which is more than can be said for much of Malaysia, still reeling from 1MBD hangovers and political tension. Under the low-profile Farid’s careful aegis, Maybank is now the country’s biggest bank by some distance. Its closest rival CIMB is well back.