The most striking thing about this year’s winner of the US best super-regional investment bank award is that PNC Financial Services Group prides itself on not really having an investment bank.

For PNC Financial, the US’s inaugural best super-regional bank, 2021 was a landmark year in a decade-long national expansion under chief executive Bill Demchak.

The large Japanese lender joins PNC in taking the loan underwriting and monitoring system developed by a new lender to UK SMEs and tested through Covid.

Selling its US bank to PNC fixes BBVA’s capital problem and allows it to consolidate in Spain. Arch-rival Santander’s similar troubles may be harder to solve.

The chief executive of PNC Financial Services is making good on his plan to deploy the proceeds from this year’s sale of its stake in BlackRock in support of its national strategy.

To succeed, you have to be national: for Bill Demchak, chief executive of PNC Financial Services, it’s the mantra that has guided his strategy since taking over the reins of the firm in 2013.

Bill Demchak, CEO of PNC Financial Services, has spent years building the firm into a formidable force; its exit from BlackRock now sees it on the cusp of a new era.