To the detractors of big Wall Street banks, Goldman Sachs might not seem an obvious candidate for recognition of its response to a humanitarian crisis. But when the Covid-19 crisis struck, the bank rapidly deployed a raft of measures spanning frontline support for hospitals to online versions of its community volunteering programmes.

There are several banks in Asia that are deeply committed to helping the region continue economic growth but also to addressing the challenge of carbon intensity, but one bank in particular, HSBC, is working across the entire region across the spectrum – helping improve livelihoods and helping companies with their low carbon transition.

Morgan Stanley has the most balanced investment banking operation in Asia, both geographically and by product. Across M&A, equity and debt capital markets, from Japan via China to southeast Asia, Korea and Australia, the bank is reliably high quality.

Goldman Sachs advised on the highest volume of M&A, both announced and completed, in Asia Pacific during our review period, but it is the importance of the transactions and their geographical range that win the bank this award. John Kim is head of M&A, ex-Japan Asia.

DBS regains the best bank in Asia award it first won three years ago, for showing how innovation, digital vision and creative thinking can not only sound good but also translate into record profits and resilient margins.

Citi has long impressed for its front-end digital excellence, with streamlined and clever apps aplenty, and for its ability to integrate itself into the lives of its customers at every level through a string of partnerships across the region.

Singapore’s banks lead the field in services for small and medium-sized enterprises that go beyond their home base into the surrounding countries: some of the very few cross-border SME businesses that can be found in the world.

UOB has a reputation for conservatism. It is a family dynasty bank that thinks for the very long term, so the digital shifts of recent years there are highly important. The announcement during our review period of a new digital bank for the region came alongside a greater level of openness at the bank. Both are welcome.

Citi remains the name to beat in regional transaction services.

For the second year running, Bank of America Merrill Lynch wins Euromoney’s award for best bank for corporate responsibility in Asia.

Our review period was a difficult one for private banking operations in the region, as it was worldwide: the fourth quarter wiped out huge chunks of revenues and assets for some international and local players, and it was a year that required sound individual advice for clients.

Our review period embraced a curious 12 months of market performance in which bankers needed to be able to deliver a wide range of financing options to clients. Sometimes it needed high-yield debt, sometimes structured finance, sometimes just the protective arm of the balance sheet until brighter times arrived.

According to the World Bank, small and medium-sized enterprises account for approximately 95% of all registered firms in Africa – financing them is essential to regional growth.

Continued investment in people, technology and partnerships to consolidate the bank’s cash and trade networks in sub-Saharan Africa make Citi Africa’s best bank for transaction services for the third year in a row under Peter Crawley, its treasury and trade solutions head, based in Johannesburg.

Société Générale’s deep commitment to supporting the communities it works in wins it the award as Africa’s best bank for corporate responsibility.

Citi’s reach and knowledge of African markets combined with its international banking expertise and balance sheet make it Africa’s best bank for financing for the second year in a row.

Spain’s banking sector can rest assured that it has been in the vanguard of the wider transformation of Europe’s banking sector since the 2008 and 2011 crises – in particular in the shift away from the model of regionally focused and foundation-controlled savings banks.

This year Lombard Odier is western Europe’s best bank for wealth management. It has $262 billion in client assets, making it a medium-sized player, yet it succeeds in having the feel of a boutique wealth manager thanks to its structure.

The threat of Brexit continues to force transaction bankers to rethink how they structure their businesses, with a number of regional and international banks setting their sights on Frankfurt and Dublin as central hubs for cash management and trade finance.

Overall, this was a year when banks with greater strengths in debt financing could shine, as the decreasing chances of an imminent ECB rate rise reflected poorer global and regional growth prospects – weighing on Europe’s equity markets but still allowing many names to borrow funds at longer maturities.

The M&A business has been another bright spot for European investment banks over the past year. Western Europe’s best bank for advisory, Credit Suisse, has made particularly good use of that opportunity under investment banking and capital markets chief executive Jim Amine.

Ever-larger investments in digital banking have been an important part of European banks’ efforts to cut costs. At the same time, digital banking is central to their attempts to establish a growth story.

Banks’ track record on lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, the growth driver of the economy, remains a mixed one in Europe.

The successful IPO of Slovenia’s NLB in London and Ljubljana in November marked the end of a six-year restructuring process and set the stage for a new era of expansion by the group.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is a longstanding winner of the award for North America’s best bank for small and mediumsized enterprises, and the last 12 months have seen it deservedly retain the crown.

Latin America’s best bank for sustainable finance this year is BBVA.

Economic growth is strengthening in central American and the Caribbean. The IMF expects the region to grow at about 2% this year and 2.5% next year.

Banco do Brasil wins the award for the region’s best bank transformation.

Despite the headwinds for region’s banks, there were some outstanding performances that demonstrate what can be achieved without macroeconomic support. The best example of this was Santander Brasil, Latin America’s best bank.

Navigating Africa’s disparate markets successfully requires a trusted adviser. One institution that stands out in this regard is Chapel Hill Denham, Africa’s best bank for advisory for the second year in a row.