A full range of best-in-class products, strong advisory capabilities and global reach are more important than ever in post-pandemic corporate banking.

Strength in equity capital markets and M&A, as well as a close relationship with the bank’s tech team, has created a winning formula this year.

The bank is keen to get started on taking the tough decisions needed to achieve net zero.

Under the leadership of James Gorman, Morgan Stanley has reshaped its business mix in ways that it thinks will position it for a world in which its clients need more connectivity than ever. Driving that process in its investment bank is co-president Ted Pick.

JPMorgan was not the only bank that came into the Covid crisis with a strong balance sheet, but, as in 2008, the bank has shown that its diverse business lines and fortress balance sheet are what distinguishes it from the pack.

As the world’s financial markets went into crisis in 2020, Citi showed it had the capital strength and global reach to keep its clients in business

The firm didn’t foresee the coronavirus crisis when it decided to pivot its investment bank more explicitly towards clients than ever before. But as so often, its timing could not have been better

Wholehearted commitment and revamped leadership have helped Barclays find a new vigour in its markets division.

Across every sector and region HSBC stands out for its commitment to developing partnerships and products that will bring finance at scale to create a more sustainable and resilient planet.

The Swiss bank stands apart from its peers. It helped its clients profit, both in the serene waters of 2019 and in the wake left by Covid-19 as it spread across the world in 2020

With its unique model of direct lending to microfinance institutions and bringing large investors to the table, BNP Paribas has put financial inclusion at the heart of its agenda.

Covid-19 has not simply accelerated the push to digital but has also changed the nature of transaction banking itself.

Even during Turkey’s recent economic turbulence, Akbank has maintained its commitment to innovation and has been the standout private-sector lender in the country.

It was not the only bank that came into the Covid crisis with a strong balance sheet, but, as in 2008, the bank has shown that its diverse businesses provide plentiful earnings to take big reserves, even while it keeps financing large corporates and small businesses alike. Deposits have flooded in, technology investments have proved their worth and it is winning more business from mid-cap clients inside and outside the US – and it coped with the temporary absence of a legendary chief executive.

Whether on Covid-19, systemic racial inequality or climate change, Bank of America’s CEO has demonstrated how the financial industry can respond on every front – and why stakeholder capitalism is not only needed but works

As financial institutions bolster their balance sheets and business models after Covid-19, Morgan Stanley retains a franchise to which others can only aspire

Covid-19 has given the Spanish bank an opportunity to demonstrate the advantages of a global SME franchise, even for clients without international operations.

In big, complex M&A deals, the firm’s main challenge is which side to work for.

Thomas Gottstein looked uncertain when stepping up to succeed Tidjane Thiam in February, but his response to the pandemic, including a scheme with the government, central bank and other lenders to save Swiss SMEs, demonstrated why he was appointed. He is now reshaping the bank Thiam handed over to him.

Its reincarnation as a sensible corporate bank is still a work in progress, but Deutsche’s achievements so far deserve recognition.

Using its balance sheet to help the transition to net zero emissions, racial equality and economic mobility, while supporting employees through Covid-19 and assisting communities in all markets it operates in, Bank of America has put corporate responsibility at its core.

Citi’s scale across the emerging markets is unrivalled, and its investment bankers have been successful in playing to that strength throughout the last year.

Shenzhen-based Ping An Bank didn’t tweak the rulebook when it set out in pursuit of a better digital strategy. Instead, it tore it up and began again. The Chinese bank’s plans have worked beyond all expectations.

The breadth and ambition of Santander’s diversity and inclusion programmes set it apart from its peers globally.

The curtain is about to fall on one of the great Indian banking careers, so it is an appropriate moment to recognize the work of Aditya Puri at HDFC.

In a global health pandemic set to cost governments across the world billions of dollars, public-sector clients need a bank they can rely on to deliver uninterrupted access to funding.

The new chief executive of HSBC had announced a big cost-cutting programme just before Covid hit. He was smart enough to pause it and encourage local staff around the world, even in locations where the redundancies were set to fall, to back their customers with quick loan decisions. Noel Quinn discusses the bank’s impressive response.

BNP Paribas has shown itself to be a bank for global corporate clients of which Europe can be proud.