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Choosing the winner of the best bank for transaction services in Latin America was difficult. The shortlisted banks – BBVA, Citi and BAML – all demonstrated real growth and innovation in working within this politically and economically diverse region.

Stuart Gulliver’s six-year transformation of HSBC has created a global bank that works, rather than one that merely exists. And through that process, the bank has continued to deliver impressive returns.

When it comes to corporate and social responsibility, few banks are prepared to be consistently the first to advocate for the environment and for human rights the way Morgan Stanley does.

This year’s best bank award recognizes Erste Group’s achievements in completing the protracted restructuring of its network and positioning itself to take advantage of growth opportunities in the region, while at the same time meeting the challenges of technology.

Success in emerging markets demands nimble risk management and deep knowledge. CIB has demonstrated that it has both.

Citi was knocked off the top spot in DCM in emerging Europe last year but remains a dominant force in CEE investment banking thanks to its unrivalled on-the-ground presence in the region. The US house has commercial banking operations in Russia, Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic, as well as offices in Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria and Slovakia. These are coordinated with a 22-strong team in Citi’s CEE banking hub in London. Citi is the winner of our award for the best bank for financing in the region.

The award for best bank for wealth management in Africa this year goes to Standard Bank. With R79 billion ($6.14 billion) in wealth and investment assets under advisory, Standard Bank is Africa’s largest wealth manager.

In a year when the geopolitical environment and the outlook for interest rates took several dramatic turns, investment banks with strength in fixed income and deep local understanding were at an advantage in our award for best bank for markets.

With all the factors that can affect the success and failure of an enterprise, financing SME clients can be a risky business – and one that many banks do not feel is worth the effort for the relatively small volumes of financing activity involved.

Investment bankers covering CEE breathed a sigh of relief last year as their market sprang back to life after two years in the doldrums. Eurobond sales from the region rose nearly 60% in the 12 months to March from a year earlier, according to Dealogic, while primary equity issuance more than trebled. The trend was less marked in M&A, which had proved more resilient during the regional downturn, but a 28% increase in transaction volumes was nonetheless welcome.

The best bank transformation of the year award goes to Santander Brasil.

When Erste bought Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) in 2005, the bank came with a lot of baggage. As the main financier of Romania’s corporate sector through much of the post-Communist period, it was deeply embedded in the power structures of a country notorious for bad governance and lack of transparency.