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High-grade corporate borrowers also took advantage of strong external conditions to raise substantial chunks of funding at ultra-tight spreads, most notably in the case of Rosneft’s $3 billion dual-tranche market return in late November – but the deal that caught the eye towards the end of the year was October’s more modest $600 million five-year debut from double-B rated issuer Brunswick Rail.

Further south, the standout M&A deal of the year was Chinese company Jinchuan’s R9.112 billion ($1.02 billion) acquisition of Metorex. It told us a lot about the changing nature of Chinese acquisition in resource-rich Africa.

The annual Private Banking and wealth management survey provides a qualitative and quantitative review of the best services in private banking, by region and by areas of service. It is an informative guide for high net-worth individuals on the range of professional wealth management service providers that are available.

RBS’s investment banking head John Hourican is the fall-guy for the bank’s Libor-rigging fine, but he should be lauded for the job he has done in the most difficult circumstances.

The private banking industry has had to modernize as never before to keep pace with the global needs of clients, new regulation and rebuild trust. Change has not come easy, but for those wealth managers that have blended global capability with product expertise in local markets, they continue to stand out from the crowd.

Many of the perceived shadowy corners of the global financial system have had a spotlight cast on them in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, highlighting some acute problems that might have otherwise remained in the shadows.

Sinopec’s acquisition of a 49% equity interest in Talisman’s UK subsidiary for $1.5 billion in cash stood out not least because it was among the first high-profile acquisitions by a Chinese state-owned enterprise in the North Sea, one of the world’s most important oil and gas fields. The joint-venture structure allowed Sinopec to benefit from the well-established capability of TEUK in mature field operations and field-life extensions, with a rapid execution timeline. The transaction gave Sinopec a North Sea presence in line with the stated group strategy of establishing regional hubs across international oil and gas provinces. HSBC acted as the sole adviser to Sinopec, while JPMorgan advised Talisman. For HSBC, internal teams combined across the franchise – including Beijing, Hong Kong, Calgary and London – to implement the deal, demonstrating the need for a global team on a transaction of this nature.

In a buoyant year for international bond issuance from Latin America, structural innovation was what counted, rather than the size and pricing records that were broken. In the equity markets, which, in Brazil at least, were quiescent, persistence and a high regard for a fair deal for investors were crucial.

Moving to north Africa, debt was again the most interesting area of the capital markets, and nowhere more so than in the Kingdom of Morocco’s extraordinary $1.5 billion 10- and 30-year dollar debut in December.

Reflecting on the jumbo senior secured €8 billion refinancing package for Schaeffler, a German auto parts supplier, an investor says: "While exposure to the cyclical automotive sector would have normally have made this a nonstarter, the diversity offered by a new European levered corporate deal combined with an ebitda of €2 billion-plus made it a must-do."

Large IPOs in Asia last year were something of a rarity. The $2.1 billion July IPO of IHH Healthcare was the largest-ever healthcare IPO in Asia. It was also noteworthy for its concurrent listing on two exchanges in the rising Asean region. And it posted good aftermarket volumes on both, with one-month average daily trading volume of $6.8 million on the Bursa Malaysia and $2.3 million on the Singapore Exchange, the venue for its secondary listing.