Scale is important in cash management, but it is not everything. For clients it is the people, the services and the products that count. Often the best-in-class are regional specialists rather than the global giants, as Euromoney’s unique Five-Star Cash Manager analysis shows.

Which cash managers get our stamp of approval for the quality of their service to clients?

The survey is designed to give our readers valuable information on the global trade finance market and the opportunity to rank trade finance providers across a selection of categories and an overall global ranking of providers as rated by their clients.

The world seems to be turning away from globalization and towards protectionism. Yet despite this challenging environment for trade, the bankers who finance it remain surprisingly upbeat.

The long-awaited tie-up between HSBC and Shenzhen Qianhai Financial Holdings still seems to be nowhere in sight.

Plans to mirror US leverage limits could hit banks’ market share in Europe.

Chinese firms are back in the running for control of Portuguese banking. The two sides are more used to doing business now – and the sellers are even more desperate for capital.

It is time European regulators proposed a BRRD that is fit for purpose.

A top executive at a leading European bank questions the credibility of the firm’s new leadership [March]

John Cryan, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank, knows his options are limited as he tries to halt the bank’s decline [March]

Gary Cohn, president and COO of Goldman Sachs, was poised to join president-elect Trump’s new administration at the end of last year, having been appointed director of the National Economic Council.

The Egyptian central bank’s decision to allow the pound to float freely in November caught many bankers in Cairo by surprise. But it was a long-held ambition of governor Tarek Amer, a veteran of Egyptian finance with a reputation as a straight-shooter. Now he needs to show the move heralds a cultural, positive shift for Egypt’s economy.

International banks recently put up an unsecured loan for a Russian borrower with a parent on the US sanctions list. Has the loan market for unsanctioned investment-grade Russian borrowers just got broader, deeper and potentially cheaper?

Morgan Stanley’s joint venture with MUFG in Japan makes sense on paper, combining international reach with domestic Japanese corporate and retail strength. But cultural differences meant few gave it much of a chance when it was announced. Six years on, it is proving the doubters wrong. How?

Beijing's pollution a problem for staff moves.

The saga of the Austrian Raiffeisen sector’s search for capital will continue this month when shareholders vote on whether to merge its international arm, RBI, with holding company RZB. The current proposal would relieve short-term regulatory pressures, but critics say it fails to address the structural weaknesses of the sector.

Euromoney Country Risk shows global risk rising, as leading economists and political experts revise their views on asset safety.

Big banks are finding it tough to be consistent around environmental standards. They need to try harder to address the conflicts and inconsistencies.

Bond market losses that began in November with the sharp rise of inflation expectations for Donald Trump’s coming presidency continued towards the end of the year.

The question of banks moving to the mainland after Brexit will be settled at the dining table.

Banks are trying to rebrand themselves as technology companies. But even the ones at the forefront of the digital charge are relative laggards

Banking regulators have a remarkable ability to stop innovation in its tracks. But when they work in favour of the industry, amazing things can happen.

UK and US economic policy has changed tone since last year’s electoral rebellions. Markets should jump at the chance to buy into higher-yielding real assets, but politicians will struggle to make reality match their rhetoric on infrastructure investment

The election of Donald Trump prompted a vicious sell-off in global bonds. Investors face the new year with warnings over volatility and inflation ringing in their ears. Will it be as bad as they think?

How best to tell the tale of another extraordinary year for the global banking industry? Perhaps through one of the few concepts that all bankers understand: awards. But not in the traditional sense. Euromoney picks out the key people and the biggest stories that defined 2016. As for the winners? Before they get too excited, perhaps they should take heed of the 'Be careful what you wish for' award...

By: Mark Baker, Louise Bowman, Peter Lee, Dominic O'Neill and Chris Wright

Regulatory capital requirement cut to $50 million; not enough smaller firms to fill the void.

Jon 'Mystic Mac' Macaskill takes a look at the year ahead in banking and trading

New capital flow channel had a limp debut; insurance industry is under the cosh.

UniCredit CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier has unveiled his new strategic plan for the bank. With a €13 billion rights issue at its centre, he will need to convince shareholders that this time the bank has a real prospect of breaking free of the country's banking troubles