The lifers are being cleared out at a bank traditionally known for the long service of its senior management.

As it presses ahead with restructuring, Deutsche will exit cash equities, cut back in rates and centre itself on a traditional corporate banking business. CEO Christian Sewing calls it the most radical transformation the bank has undertaken in decades.

The French bank sees an opportunity to grab market share – and a more advanced tech platform – in a business that it sees as strategic.

Deutsche employees who have recently been fired or face the axe will no doubt take comfort in the successes of fellow alumni such as Sajid Javid.

Digital-obsessed chief executive Ralph Hamers has pushed ING towards what is perhaps the biggest bank transformation in Europe. Can it become a model for how to build a globally competitive retail bank, straddling the continent’s fragmented markets?

For 22 years, he has led banking in Austria and across CEE at the helm of Erste Bank. Even as he nears retirement, he is pushing to transform Erste into a ‘financial health company’. Euromoney’s Banker of the Year for 2019 talks about this vision and how digital transformation is at its heart.

A larger than expected second-quarter loss shows Deutsche kitchen-sinking its 2019 results.

A higher score, and tier, in the Euromoney Belt and Road Index shines the spotlight on Russia’s participation this quarter.

The FCA’s live market test facility has enabled a variety of capital markets-related fintech companies to test their business models and technologies in a controlled environment.

Negative yields on sub-investment grade bonds is a worrying development.

Digital overhauls at ING and Nordea will not tempt others to follow.

A recent survey states 92% of financial decision-makers have admitted to paying their suppliers late, but there are tech solutions to some of these issues – and it's about time they were adopted.

Spain’s banking sector can rest assured that it has been in the vanguard of the wider transformation of Europe’s banking sector since the 2008 and 2011 crises – in particular in the shift away from the model of regionally focused and foundation-controlled savings banks.

The threat of Brexit continues to force transaction bankers to rethink how they structure their businesses, with a number of regional and international banks setting their sights on Frankfurt and Dublin as central hubs for cash management and trade finance.

Having its origins as a social foundation, western Europe’s best bank for corporate responsibility, CaixaBank, has integrated sustainability and social impact into every division in the last two years, from risk management to innovation.

Overall, this was a year when banks with greater strengths in debt financing could shine, as the decreasing chances of an imminent ECB rate rise reflected poorer global and regional growth prospects – weighing on Europe’s equity markets but still allowing many names to borrow funds at longer maturities.

Ukrgasbank is one Ukraine’s largest banks, serving 900,000 retail customers in addition to small and medium-sized enterprises and corporates.

Western Europe's best bank

Economic globalization has created a complex web of global supply chains that are reflected in the trade and cash management needs of regional and international corporates.

It is hard to believe now that four years ago the winner of this year’s best bank for central and eastern Europe, Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), was on the brink of disaster and facing calls to dismantle its regional network.

Despite the talk of how poorly European banks are performing compared with the Americans – and the relative environment has indeed got worse over last year – there are some banks in the region that can match and even beat those in the US in terms of their business models and financial results.

Garanti BBVA sets a high standard for banking – it is a founding member of the UN’s principles for responsible banking – and this year wins the award for the best bank for corporate responsibility in central and eastern Europe.

The M&A business has been another bright spot for European investment banks over the past year. Western Europe’s best bank for advisory, Credit Suisse, has made particularly good use of that opportunity under investment banking and capital markets chief executive Jim Amine.

CEE's best bank

Austria

In investment banking, the first quarter of this year capped a particularly difficult period in the markets; one that has hit Europe and European firms hardest.

Banks’ track record on lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, the growth driver of the economy, remains a mixed one in Europe.

Ever-larger investments in digital banking have been an important part of European banks’ efforts to cut costs. At the same time, digital banking is central to their attempts to establish a growth story.

The successful IPO of Slovenia’s NLB in London and Ljubljana in November marked the end of a six-year restructuring process and set the stage for a new era of expansion by the group.

While many banks are engaged in sustainable finance in western Europe, very few are focusing every part of the bank on an environmental or social purpose. ABN Amro, western Europe’s best bank for sustainable finance, is one that is.