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.

In the Middle East, sustainability is about adaptation, not just to the increasingly stark evidence of climate change but also to the global demand for a more diversified energy mix to lessen fossil-fuel extraction.

Kuwaiti citizens are proud of the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the country’s largest bank by assets, and for good reason. NBK views itself as a pillar of the corporate and financial community. It deserves to win this award for several reasons, starting with its willingness to connect with worthy new initiatives.

UBS continues to assert its position as the Middle East’s best bank for wealth management. It won this award last year and the one before that – and the one before that. It is active in every important market, continues to expand its reach and innovates intelligently, introducing products tailored to regional clients’ specific needs.

Mashreq Bank is a perennial winner of this award. Can any other regional lender compete with its ambition to be not just the best digital bank in the region but one of the best in the world? So far at least answer is a resounding ‘no’.

Best Bank: National Bank of BahrainBest Investment Bank: Sico Bank

Once again, Emirates NBD walks away with the award for the Middle East’s best bank. The Dubai bank posted net profit of $3.54 billion in the full year 2022, up 40% year on year, boosted by strong returns from investment banking, treasury sales income and trade finance. It has continued that strong performance in the current year, posting a first-quarter 2023 profit of $1.63 billion, bolstered by net interest income of $1.96 billion, up 69% year on year.

Citi is the standout winner of the award for the region’s best bank for advisory in 2023. In a strong year for M&A, it was way ahead of the pack. It advised on 18 completed deals collectively worth $32.1 billion, giving it a 26.5% share of the market, according to data from Dealogic.

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.

The green transition is boosting demand for key metals and Africa’s commodity markets are under pressure to increase extraction. But buyer awareness of Scope 3 emissions means that processes need to be cleaned up and fast.

If Olam Agri’s planned dual-listing IPO goes ahead in June it will have a bit of everything: a Singapore-Saudi listing, geopolitics and sovereign funds jostling to defend their nations against strain in global food security.

RakBank isn’t the biggest or best known bank in the United Arab Emirates. But it is playing an outsized role in providing innovative Islamic banking solutions and growing the market.

Few banks take the phrase 'digital transformation' more seriously than Dukhan Bank.

Over the last 45 years, Jordan Islamic Bank (JIB) has steadily grown its banking, financing and investment businesses in accordance with Islamic guidelines. The corporate governance code it built became the standard in Jordan and one that the central bank has taken to using as a benchmark for peers.

Al Rajhi Bank had a busy 2022, arranging 12 high-profile transactions in the Saudi riyal and US dollar debt capital markets.

Since its inception in 2004, Boubyan Bank has carved out a specific niche in a Kuwaiti market dominated by bigger and more established players. As chief executive Abdullah Al-Tuwaijri puts it, three words serve as the guiding star for the bank’s strategy: “modern, attractive and digital.”

Qatar’s biggest Islamic bank remains hard to beat. Last year, it offered shareholders a 17.8% return on equity, a 2.1% return on assets and one of the industry’s lowest cost-to-income ratios at 17.4%.

Founded in 2009, Sidra Capital is a pioneer of private Islamic finance in Saudi Arabia, with offices in Riyadh, Dubai, Singapore and London. Licensed and regulated by the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority, Sidra’s Shariah-compliant asset business focuses on alternative asset classes, real estate and private finance and private equity.

Despite surging global interest rates, inflation, gyrating currencies and geopolitical tensions, Ahli Islamic Bank has stayed the course. It has grown its business and worked to expand the industry, pursuing financial inclusion when it is needed most.

Dubai Islamic Bank reported a 12% year-on-year rise in net profit in the first quarter of 2023, while total income grew by 47% over the same period – the result of strong income from financing assets and robust cost management.

Kuwait Finance House’s 45th year in business was a banner one. In October 2022, the team led by acting chief executive Abdulwahab Iesa Alrushood completed the acquisition of Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank to create the world’s second-largest Islamic bank.

The global turmoil of 2022 posed a severe test for Banque Misr and its more than 10 million customers. The one-two punch of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the foreign-currency crunch caused by surging inflation sent Egypt to the IMF.

You might expect that a bank that managed to double its profit over the last year would be an easy call for the best in Bahrain. But aside from the financials, Bahrain Islamic Bank, led by chief executive Yaser Alsharifi, is a clear standout in many categories.

As the Gulf IPO boom subsides, will better allocations for international investors, dual listings and better secondary-market liquidity be enough to ensure that the region’s equity capital markets can mature?

Jordan Kuwait Bank has issued the country’s first green bond, a key milestone for sustainability driven capital investments in the country. But getting momentum going in the sector will be an uphill battle.

Emirates NBD has put a strong focus on digital and mobile banking for its private banking clients and wider customer base in 2022.

With offices in Dubai, Riyadh, Geneva and Luxembourg, BNP Paribas Wealth Management is well positioned to offer succession planning and wealth-transfer services across the Middle East.

BNP Paribas has put environmental, social and governance at the centre of its work over the last few years and BNP Paribas Wealth Management’s approach is no different. The bank, which last year took home the world’s best bank for ESG in Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence, has successfully integrated ESG across its offerings, not least with its innovative ‘myImpact’ app.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management is named the best private bank in the Middle East in this year’s private banking awards.

QNB Private was the first private bank established in Qatar, but its offering for clients, particularly high net-worth individuals, spans the Middle East. QNB is the largest bank in Qatar, with a 30% market share, and has a global network that covers 31 countries on three continents.