Nordea has long been recognised for having the most broadly diversified franchise across the entire Nordic region (bar Iceland). As S&P comments in a recent update, Nordea’s 2013 results “confirmed the group’s sustainable, broad revenue base, supported by its large business model diversified by geography and business lines.”

A strong advisory and origination business, coupled with a market leading trading status, make Citi the undisputed champion.

The bank has beaten off increasing competition by arranging an impressive number and range of deals across emerging markets.

Strength through diversity is driving many of Latin America’s banks to grow regionally; the policy is working well for those becoming too dominant in their home market and for those following their large corporate clients into lucrative new markets. The growth of banking ‘multi-Latinas’ is set to continue, and it will be interesting to see which, and how quickly, of the local regional players can build scale to challenge the current duopoly of BBVA and Santander.

A more cohesive, flatter management structure has kept the venerable investment bank ahead of its challengers.

The firm has climbed the league tables since making securitization a priority and revamping its business as a global franchise.

Early signs of recovery in the eurozone brought relief to struggling economies across emerging Europe last year but the picture remained very mixed. Countries such as Turkey, Romania and Hungary had a substantial pick-up in growth, but the core central European markets of Poland and Czech Republic were slower to recover from their respective slowdowns. Meanwhile Croatia remained mired in recession, and Russia and Ukraine showed every sign of emulating it even, before the outbreak of the Crimean crisis.

This year, Euromoney’s best bank in Africa is Nigerian player Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank). It stands out not only because of its stellar performance in its home country, but precisely because the bank represents a new standard of local expertise in Nigeria and is successfully delivering on its regional ambitions.

The Spanish bank is wired up to become the world’s leading digital bank thanks to the vision of its chief executive

A highly specialized cross-asset structuring team has placed Deutsche at the forefront of risk management solutions

An energized, collaborative and solutions-driven approach targeting truly global companies is proving a winning formula.

The Argentine government is attempting to re-integrate its economy into the rest of the world. The recent debt repayment agreement with the Paris Club is the latest evidence of tentative reductions in political risk. The run-up to the 2015 presidential election looks set to be one of gradual growth, but the economy in which local banks are operating and the persistence of strict government regulations on lending rates to retail SME segments still present operational challenges.

Most banks are not comfortable with social media. CaixaBank is very different.

Far from struggling in the new regulatory environment, a more diverse business keeps Goldman first among equals in M&A.

The clear definition of a radical strategy distinguishes the Swiss bank from most of its peers. The successful execution of that strategy makes it Euromoney’s Bank of the Year.

It might have a smaller team than its peers, but the firm insists it will stay the course in emerging markets – and it continues to punch its weight and more in equities.

Last year’s launch of the Institute for Sustainable Investing tipped the scales in favour of this bank in a competitive field brimming with impressive work.

Development beyond its US heartland has turned JPMorgan into a global player in wealth management.

While flow business models are likely to remain challenged, it is clear that there is a new long-term challenger to the traditional flow monsters.

The rise of the European market means global players need to think beyond New York. Goldman Sachs leads the way.

Despite recent troubles, Deutsche was the outstanding performer in the debt capital markets over the last year.

Euromoney’s best bank in the US for 2014 is Wells Fargo. It serves one in five households in the US, as well as more small businesses than any other bank. It’s an enormous enterprise, with 6,200 branches across the country and $1.07 trillion in deposits, yet it continues to operate with the same feel and eye for detail as a community bank.

Investment banker Ken Moelis launched his own firm in the teeth of the financial crisis. That he floated it seven years later is a remarkable achievement.

Strength and expertise across borders, industries and products are just some of the enduring hallmarks of a powerful franchise.

After five years of balkanization of the European banking system, with many national champions abandoning international ambitions, selling out of positions that commanded little share in foreign markets to repatriate capital that domestic regulators have pressured them to conserve close to home, there are hardly any European banks left worthy of the name.

Responding to data collection requirements demanded by regulators is one of the biggest challenges banks face. With its DSL platform, HSBC is taking a lead.

Another strong performance in a challenging operating environment earned Banka Kombetare Tregtare (BKT) the top spot in Albania again this year. Despite almost nonexistent growth in the wider economy, the country’s number two lender leveraged its dominant position in the retail market to expand its loan book by 3.7% and its deposit base by an impressive 14.4%, boosting its share of the overall deposit market by 1.8 percentage points to 21.9%. BKT was also one of very few Albanian lenders to see an improvement in its bottom line in 2013, with net profit up 27.1% to a sector-best $39.3 million. Return on equity was slightly below the bank’s long-term average, but remained healthy at 16.6% for the full year, and was back up to 17.5% in the first quarter of 2014.

A battle-tested management team has held on through the turbulent years following Bank of America’s rescue of Merrill Lynch. Under Tom Montag, the firm quietly rebuilt an M&A capability that is thriving as that business roars back, supported by the bank’s strength in providing finance. As other banks shrink, BofA Merrill still harbours ambitions at home and abroad to be all things to most people.

Less than three years ago UBS was written off as one of the ultimate victims of the financial crisis. The bold decisions taken then by a new chief executive and his management team make it today a bank that others seek to emulate. Sergio Ermotti pinned UBS’s future to the core of its leading global wealth management business. Now the business is starting to look more than the sum of its parts.

From laughing stock to global contender, the US firm has come a long way in a short time.