With humanity’s challenges seemingly more urgent than ever, the world’s wealthiest are trading cheque-book giving for greater engagement. Not only should the world benefit, but so too those banks that help them with their goals. What role can the world’s leading private banks play?

More than 2,000 private banks took part in the 2017 Euromoney private banking survey. See who’s up and who’s down globally, regionally and by country.

Last year was far from a vintage year for the big five US corporate and investment banking franchises, with almost no business lines seeing an overall increase in revenues in 2016, but the gains in fixed income sales and trading were enough to inch CIB division revenues up by 1.4% to $142 billion.

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?

The increasing dominance of global investment banking by US firms is hard to ignore.

The topic of Brexit was never going to be far from the minds of delegates at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the Institute of International Finance, both being held this week in Washington, DC. And on Friday afternoon, delegates got a chance to hear the views of three vocal US bank chief executives — Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan, Mike Corbat of Citi and James Gorman of Morgan Stanley.

While HSBC scores a notable double in Euromoney’s annual global rankings, the record response rate of almost 35,000 validated votes generated a host of changes at the upper end of our cash management survey. Regional banks move to the fore and some previous global leaders have dropped back.

The fixed-income sales and trading business of the big US banks took a bath in the first quarter of this year, with revenues down by between 10% and 40%. But although not immune from market and geopolitical upheaval, the second quarter could not have looked more different.

Results index It was a stellar year for Asia Pacific M&A, with the emphasis very heavily on advisory rather than funding. With local liquidity so exceptionally deep, multinationals couldn’t lend their way into mandates, and instead stood or fell on the quality of advice.

These are miserable times in Australian banking, which is suffering issues ranging from banking culture to credit quality as the commodity cycle ends. Commonwealth Bank has reputational issues around its CommInsure unit, while both ANZ and Westpac are under investigation for rate manipulation.

Results index Few firms can be said to engage in corporate social responsibility both as an organization and on behalf of its clients as much as Morgan Stanley, which receives this year’s award for North America’s best bank for corporate social responsibility (CSR). In wealth management, Morgan Stanley’s Investing with Impact Platform offers more than 130 products and funds for both institutional and retail clients. By the end of last year, it had more than $5 billion in assets under management – half way to its 2018 goal.

In a boom year for global M&A, Morgan Stanley differentiated itself from strong competition by serving up a defensive master class.

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Results Index Methodology Overall:

Extended results can be viewed here.

The US firm's embarrassing re-rightsizing is not a knee-jerk reaction: it shows just how bad FICC revenues are likely to be in the longer term. Will other banks follow suit?

Back to winners table

The acquisition of Smith Barney from Citi was far from the obvious play for Morgan Stanley in 2008. Now, it looks like a masterstroke.

Alibaba’s IPO may have grabbed the headlines, but Morgan Stanley had some other big successes over the year.

Morgan Stanley’s equity franchise stood out in the emerging markets, making transformative deals and underlining its status as a trusted adviser.

Look closely at figures from Dealogic for the first six months of 2015 and there’s a story to be found as to why Goldman Sachs bankers still like to lord it over their counterparts at Morgan Stanley.

US firms named best bank and best investment bank; Hourican takes banker of the year award; ICBC’s Jiang rewarded for outstanding contribution to global financial services.

Under the leadership of James Gorman, Morgan Stanley has carved out a unique position in global banking. It remains a great investment bank. Its much-maligned FICC division now looks fit for purpose. And its US wealth management arm gives the firm new stability and strength. Most important of all, the disparate parts of a once-divided business are delivering the benefits of the whole firm. And the markets are starting to realize the potential of a new Morgan Stanley as well.

Results index

Citi retains top spot in Global FX as clients execute more than half electronically for the first time

Overall market share

Best private banking services overall

Revenues on the rise; More lending and discretionary mandates.

The chairman of Swiss private bank J Safra Sarasin explains in an interview with Euromoney how nimble execution is key in the private-banking consolidation wave that has freed up relationship managers, in a deal that also reflects Morgan Stanley’s strategic shifts.

I hear that an article published recently by Reuters is causing waves at Morgan Stanley. The thrust of the piece – entitled ‘Wall Street’s most eligible banker Fleming waits for a suitor’ – is that 50-year-old Greg Fleming, the head of Morgan Stanley’s wealth and investment management business, might succeed James Gorman as chief executive. According to the piece, Fleming is also a flight risk as he possesses the talents to be chief executive of another financial firm.