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As chief executive of UBS Wealth management since 2009, and head of what is now clearly the group’s most important business, Jürg Zeltner, looking more youthful than a 25-year veteran of the bank has any right to, speaks to Euromoney as one of the most powerful figures on the UBS group executive board. He is pleased with his division’s re-emergence as an active asset manager, its return to the top of the Euromoney private banking rankings and with the success of its signature discretionary management products for high-net-worth clients. But he is restless to grow and improve the business in various ways, by developing its product mix, revenue streams and client profile.

In the Middle East rising sukuk issuance gave a new angle to the global emerging market debt boom. Sovereigns and supranationals launched daring benchmark deals, while in sub-Saharan Africa an outrageous last-gasp hijacking of a deal redefined the way China approaches M&A.

The improved economic performance of the Philippines has been one of the stories of the past year in Asia Pacific. On October 29, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the Republic of the Philippines to Ba1 from Ba2 as a result of its continued fiscal revenue strength in the face of deteriorating global demand and its decent growth prospects over the medium term. The Philippines debt portfolio has become longer in tenor, its new-issue yield has decreased and its foreign-currency-denominated bonds are receiving a substantial bid from onshore investors.

Science fiction has no place in the real world of bank capital, but when one bank goes boldly beyond where any other bank has gone before with a CoCo under CRD IV, there is perhaps something of a whiff of the future about it.

Supported by strong economic growth, China’s domestic private banking sector has been developing rapidly. But could a lack of education and mounting competition from overseas stall its progress?

The markets had another volatile year in 2012, but there are signs of green shoots for the global economy. The heads of the largest global private banks discuss how they are ensuring that their clients are well-positioned for 2013.

With new regulations set to increase the burden on banks holding short-term cash, many financial institutions are telling clients they need to leave their money on account for longer while weighing alternative cash management solutions.

The otherwise patchy equity markets added impetus to M&A throughout the region. There were many large, transformative, cross-border deals in Latin America in 2012 but the standout one – and the fourth deal of the year was UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of 90% of Brazil’s Amil Participações. The deal was the largest-ever cross-border acquisition of a Brazilian asset, with the US company paying $4.9 billion for its majority stake. It is transformative in the burgeoning healthcare sector and the deal also came in the middle of the year when Brazil’s slowing macroeconomy was beginning to lead to questions about the pricing of Brazilian assets. The deal demonstrates the premium that solid Brazilian companies can still attract – giving a boost to the entire M&A sector in the region’s largest economy.

Bonds and trust companies have become a popular means of local governments in China to finance themselves, following a regulatory-driven reduction in bank lending. But the risks held by both forms of capital-raising should not be considered the same.

Euromoney celebrates the 10th anniversary of its private banking survey this year. It has been a decade of changes driven by globalization and transparency. Despite a global financial crisis, a eurozone meltdown and a regulatory overhaul, the top-five global private banks have retained their standings.