It takes structuring expertise, sophistication and a good read of markets to engineer shariah-compliant structured products that perform, especially amid an uncertain and volatile global macroeconomic and markets backdrop.

There are only a few truly global banking institutions that provide a full range of sophisticated shariah-compliant advice, products and services. HSBC leads this select group, making it Euromoney’s best international Islamic bank for 2024.

Last year was an important one for sustainable finance in the Middle East. Dubai hosted the COP28 conference, following on from Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt in 2022. This has well and truly put the spotlight on sustainable finance for banks, corporates and sovereigns in the region.

HSBC dominated the region’s debt capital markets across the awards period, completing 52 DCM transactions worth a total of $10.3 billion, according to data from Dealogic. In equity capital markets, the London-headquartered lender came second, completing seven deals worth $2 billion. It also ranked in initial stock offerings, completing six IPOs worth $1.38 billion in total.

In the face of increasing competition among regional and global banks, HSBC has again demonstrated its financing strength and expertise in the Middle East across the breadth of markets, sectors and geographies it is a leader in.

Rumours that Chinese insurer Ping An could cut its stake in HSBC further, perhaps selling to a Middle East buyer at a time when Gulf investment is flooding into the People’s Republic, should not come as a surprise.

Restructuring HSBC, like painting the Forth bridge, is a never-ending job. While Noel Quinn has done well, the board must not make another ham-fisted transition.

In a region where most private-sector commercial activity is undertaken by family businesses, succession planning and wealth transfer could not be more important.

While the wealthy have excelled in accumulating and managing their assets, many still struggle with the complexities of passing them on. The urgency of succession planning was underscored by an HSBC Trustee survey in 2023, which found that 85% of global families are actively preparing successors for their business empires. This aligns with forecasts that about $18.3 trillion will change hands among high net-worth families by 2030.

Reports that the long-rumoured deal has been agreed suggest growing optimism among Argentine bankers about the new administration.

Some banks like the idea of external venture capitalists leading their venture businesses, but banker-led units are more likely to cement their inherent advantage.

Citi’s sale of its China consumer wealth portfolio to HSBC for $3.6 billion is a nuanced tale of two banks with increasingly different strategies. As HSBC tilts ever more toward Asia, Citi proves ever more inclined to see all financial services through a global prism.

While banks have accelerated digital solutions across business lines, accomplishing end-to-end digitalization of global trade remains far beyond their reach. The complexity of supply-chain finance remains a challenge, and banks continue to hunt for scalable solutions. Embedded finance could be the answer.

As other investment banks cut staff, HSBC has been hiring to build a leading bank in tech and healthcare.

Despite its roots in the region, HSBC’s Asian woes have sometimes seemed endemic. It has been overly dependent on Hong Kong and too often caught in Sino-US crosshairs. But under regional co-CEOs Surendra Rosha and David Liao, the lender has regained its confidence, is more regionally diverse than ever, and is busy posting record profits.

HSBC remained formidable in the Hong Kong market over the past year and is now well positioned to reap the benefits of mainland China and Hong Kong’s post-Covid reopening.

It is not much fun being a banker in Argentina. But while it is pretty much universally tough for everyone, spare a thought for individuals like Juan Parma, HSBC’s chief executive Argentina and head of wealth and personal banking America. Because, while Parma’s peers in Argentine banks face many of the same challenges he does, at least for them the whole organization is still focused on the country. HSBC’s global leadership could be forgiven for skipping over the country in global strategy meetings.

Football clubs undergoing a period of transition often talk of needing a transfer window or two to get where they need to be. More often than not, this doesn’t work. Better-run teams continue to make clear-minded decisions that keep them ahead of the pack. Catching up is always hard to do.

It is no surprise that HSBC is Asia’s best bank for sustainable finance for the sixth year in a row. Across its commercial, retail, global banking, markets and securities, capital markets, trade finance and risk management teams, the lender has created an extensive sustainability knowledge base that few of its rivals can match.

Public-sector receptivity to innovation in sustainability and tokenization helped HSBC show the markets a glimpse of the future of bonds.

HSBC continues to lead from the front as trade finance reinvents itself.

All big banks say they are leaders in transaction services, few really are. HSBC is always in contention for this award and takes the honours after a year full of new services and innovation.

HSBC wins the award for the Middle East’s best bank for financing this year. During the awards period the bank topped the equity capital markets league tables, completing 12 deals – more than any other financial institution – worth just over $4 billion, according to Dealogic.

For cross-border transactions, supply-side financing and capital markets, HSBC Amanah, led by chief executive Raja Amir Shah Raja Azwa, was the international Islamic bank to beat this year.

The chair of Ping An Asset Management has called again for the break-up of HSBC and spin off of its Asia assets. His argument is a strong and valid one; his problem is that none of the bank’s other main shareholders seems to care.

No matter what competitors do, contending with a 158-year-old banking major with a presence in 64 economies and a wealth balance the size of Australia’s gross domestic product is going to be hard. Especially if it has a knack for reinvention.

HSBC is named best digital private bank this year, in part thanks to the sheer scale of its user base and the ubiquity of its app, but also because of the firm’s constant reinvention.

No international lender is better at serving privately wealthy China clients wherever they are in the world than HSBC.

HSBC’s global head of trade finance talks about how the bank has built 'the trade finance platform for the future'.

HSBC runs towards the storm as others are fleeing it.