Carnegie Private Banking wins the Sweden’s best domestic private bank award for the second consecutive year for the growth, investment and development it has made across its private banking business.

Nowadays, wealthy investors are not only looking for further insights and analytical expertise to guide them through uncertain markets but also for the ability to integrate non-financial preferences into their decision-making.

Sustainability principles are embedded across all the private banking products and services offered by Formue, the Nordics and Baltics’ best private bank for sustainability this year.

Formue is this year’s winner for best bank for discretionary portfolio management in the Nordics and Baltics. Key to its success was the lender’s transition from a manually processed portfolio construction to an industry-leading portfolio and advice digital solution: Advent Genesis.

The banks in each market that have excelled across a range of core private banking activities during the past 12 months.

OTP Private Banking says it has recently embarked on an overhaul of its discretionary portfolio management services. This involves redefining the workflow to reflect topical industry themes, such as the focus on environmental, social and governance, as well as the implementation of what it describes as revolutionary new front-office software and a focus on increasing client alpha.

UniCredit’s importance as a private bank in Central and Eastern Europe is particularly evident in its service offering for high net-worth individuals.

OTP Private Banking’s approach to digital development and innovation is predicated on a regional approach, helping the firm benefit from its presence across central and eastern Europe.

OTP Private Banking is putting resources into sustainability and showing signs of progress in the area. At a group level, improved scores by several environmental, social and governance ratings agencies are testament to its improvements in the area recently. For example, it moved from a medium- to low-risk ranking by Sustainalytics.

Over the past decade, OTP Group has grown as a regional bank in central and eastern Europe – even as other international banks have begun to retreat from the region. Listed in Budapest since 1995, the group now covers 12 countries, counting 17 million customers. Although it is headquartered in Hungary, it also considers itself a market leader in Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia in terms of the overall banking market, including retail.

The banks in each market that have excelled across a range of core private banking activities during the past 12 months.

Chief executive Andrea Orcel has made it clear that Central and Eastern Europe remains at the heart of UniCredit, not least through the purchase of Greek lender Alpha Bank’s Romanian operations last year.

While welcome, initiatives by the government and financial sector bodies designed to make it easier for companies to raise funds in the UK face a number of obstacles.

A wall of liquidity among investors has helped to drive a busy start to the year for bond issuers, as they rush to capture tight spreads.

The German lender’s decision to put its chips on southeast Asia is paying off handsomely. Under the leadership of Asia CEO Alexander von zur Mühlen, Deutsche Bank has doubled its capital in Vietnam and Indonesia, with more to come, moved a host of global roles to the region, and has seen Asean eclipse its India and China business in terms of growth and absolute numbers.

Asset managers and industry regulators face operational challenges around the tokenization of private assets.

Caution at local commercial banks – coupled with the eagerness of large investment banks to foster relationships with private equity players – means large real-estate deals fuelled by back leverage could be primed for a comeback in Europe.

Corporates seeking to leverage sustainable investment opportunities continue to be restricted by the lack of reliable data on which to base their assessments.

The Basel committee is shocked – shocked! – that some banks might be reporting inflated leverage ratios.

The UK startup is now a fully regulated bank and private funds are backing its vision to embed regulated banking in non-financial companies as well as fintechs.

With some big deals launching this week, Europe’s IPO pipeline is flowing at last. If they do well, they should put to bed the notion that ‘private IPOs’ are what is needed to provide exit routes for sponsors. A handful of recent deals shows that the biggest driver of success is doing the simple things well.

The UK Chancellor has big plans for the tech sector.

Thinner margins across the banking industry hit smaller banks harder. But investor pressures are also less of an issue for mutually owned lenders.

For a deeply unpopular government with little room to manoeuvre, the chance to bribe voters with a cheap offer of bank shares is irresistible. The bank in question is now well-run and profitable while its stock still trades at a discount. But the great NatWest share offer will do little to revive UK capital markets.

The UBS chief investment office’s sustainable and impact investing strategist wants to avoid measurement for the sake of measurement, but responding to client demand for more data while ensuring its readability remains a challenge.

The newest ESG trend in retail banking might be a niche offering for now, but all banks will have to take it seriously someday.

Leading commercial banks are focusing on their approach to relationship management to reassure corporate customers that they are being listened to.

There are sensible elements to CEO Slawomir Krupa’s plans for Societe Generale, but their communication needs attention.

In 2020, Deutsche Bank’s Asia chief, Alexander von zur Mühlen, placed more of his chips on fast-growing southeast Asia. As global firms diversify out of China, his prescience and willingness to deliver on his convictions is starting to pay off.

Investors and staff at Societe Generale are slowly starting to understand chief executive Slawomir Krupa’s brutally honest approach to the bank’s many challenges. Taking them with him as he embarks on his restructuring plan may prove a more delicate task.