Have HSBC and Citi found a way to cut costs and maintain revenues in Latin America? If so, local banks will not accept that quietly.

Renegotiated and restructured debt lengthening NPL cycle; Bradesco and Santander to benefit most from better cost of risk.

Citi wins the award for best bank for markets in Latin America. The US bank maintains a very wide presence in the region and is a strong competitor across the board. Led by regional head of markets and securities services, Jaime Roblesgil, the bank has been focusing on building up its controls in recent years, in alignment with its global practices. Coordination is vital. Citi has 530 personnel operating in 21 countries in the region (as well as in Miami and New York).

The winner of the best digital bank award is Bancolombia. Its investment in its digital strategy paid off last year and its customers – across all banking segments – embraced the functionality, praised its intuitive performance and, above all, migrated to the internet, ATM and mobile apps.

Choosing the winner of the best bank for transaction services in Latin America was difficult. The shortlisted banks – BBVA, Citi and BAML – all demonstrated real growth and innovation in working within this politically and economically diverse region.

This year the best bank for SMEs is Banco de Crédito del Perú, whose SME division serves over 400,000 clients in Peru across two categories: family businesses and non-family businesses.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch wins the award for the best investment bank in the region.

This year BBVA wins Euromoney’s award for best bank for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Latin America for its dedication to transparency and to promoting financial literacy and inclusion.

The Euromoney Awards for Excellence, now in its 26th consecutive year, were the first of their kind in the global financial For almost 50 years, Euromoney has been the leading publication for covering the growth of international finance. Over the past 12 months its coverage has included interviews with close to 100 bank CEOs, ministers of finance and central bank governors around the world.

The recent trend for growth among local pan-regional banks continues and, in the last year, Grupo Financiero Ficohsa’s acquisition of Citi’s banks in Honduras and Nicaragua shows that it may well be a challenger in the future for BAC International Bank, which retains this year’s award for the best bank in central America and the Caribbean.

The Argentine banking system is beginning to return to a semblance of normality, with signs such as positive interest rates. But the road back to international standards is a long one. After many years of economic dysfunction and highly prescriptive banking regulations (including mandatory lending to segments and floors and caps on interest rates), it will take a long time for an orthodox banking sector to appear.

Over the last year Latin American politics has bubbled over to dominate the region’s economies. Venezuela has been brought close to the edge of collapse by a dysfunctional populist regime that clings to power through the continuing loyalty of its military. The failure of Venezuela’s neighbours to produce a regional response to president Nicolas Maduro’s increasingly repressive regime reflects widespread problems of their own.

Itaú Private Bank wins the award this year for best bank in wealth management in Latin America.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch wins the award for best bank for advisory.

The best bank transformation of the year award goes to Santander Brasil.

JPMorgan wins Euromoney’s award for excellence in providing clients with financing.

Wave of IPOs could propel ‘mid-sized’ banks; HSBC emerging as a potentially serious player.

High-yield sovereign issuer sells a $2.75 billion century bond; bank valuations ‘hyped’ but room still seen to grow.

Brazil office opened in 2014 and has won several prestigious mandates; firm argues changes to bankruptcy code would boost M&A.

What gated communities can teach us about gaming the system.

The latest political scandal in Brazil spooked the markets, but didn’t bring them down. Why not?

The country’s biggest banks are working on the big data challenge. If successful, it could transform the industry and its performance. But quantifying the impact and differentiating between potential winners and losers is almost impossible.

Swiss bank buys Brazil’s biggest multi-family office; wealth management industry continues to grow fast despite economic turbulence.

Bernardo Parnes opens IB and wealth management boutique; consultancy aims to differentiate by seniority of advisers.

Miranda, head of BBI, says single country banks at a disadvantage; global trend to universal banks helping drive national and regional growth.

Sharp crash in bank shares was followed by marked recovery; risk of political stagnation could lead to larger, longer-term falls in sector.

Itaú buys XP to protect its market share; staggered deal offers XP a certain future away from IPO risks.

Private banks ahead of the curve in terms of provisioning; Banco do Brasil returns to double-digit ROE.

Credit Suisse switches to outperform rating; Santander expected to quickly close the profitability gap with its peers.

Airline IPO finally takes off on fourth attempt; optimism immediately tempered by renewed political risk.