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The €610 million sale of United Bulgaria Bank (UBB) says much about the work National Bank of Greece has done to re-orientate its business model over the last year. These are praiseworthy, if somewhat belated, actions by the Greek bank. But the UBB deal says even more about the benefits of earlier actions by the acquiring bank to refocus on core countries and businesses.

This year’s winner of best bank in Africa is a marked departure from last year’s. After Equity Bank’s win in 2016, thanks to its dominance in the small and medium-sized enterprise and digital banking sectors, this year we reward Attijariwafa Bank, a financial institution that has long been the best in Morocco and is now asserting its credentials in the rest of Africa.

Whatever clients need to do, it is a fair bet that Morgan Stanley can help them do it. The firm’s business this year in North America was no exception, and while from a league table perspective it is in M&A advisory that Morgan Stanley truly excels, its innovation and skill in all areas make it our choice for best investment bank in the US. Morgan Stanley likes uncertain markets more than some – it reckons volatile conditions are when it can best show its prowess. Nowhere was this shown better than in the unregistered block trade that the bank executed on behalf of Abbott Laboratories, which wanted to sell 44 million shares of Mylan in what was the second largest unregistered block ever.

Financing, and particularly debt, is one area where European investment banks can still have a grip on their home markets. Many are already reaping the benefits of having shifted to a more capital-efficient deployment of their balance sheets.

The bank’s expertise in debt capital markets and transaction banking have helped it excel in emerging markets this year.

In a year that was difficult for much of Africa because of low commodity prices and especially the price of oil, which dragged down deal activity, one investment bank outshone its peers, managing to remain busy throughout the period. That bank was Citi, which wins this year’s best investment bank in Africa award.

Julius Baer’s strategy of commitment, investment and hiring – when many of its peers have been retreating – has enabled the bank to become a global leader in wealth management.

Goldman’s creativity and ability to commit capital have paid off this year.

Itaú Private Bank wins the award this year for best bank in wealth management in Latin America.

The revival of its markets, as well as momentum in its traditional investment-banking strengths, has made Morgan Stanley stand out from its competitors over the review period.

Cheap financing helped big M&A deals continue to proliferate in Europe over the period of these awards. Western Europe’s best bank for advisory, UBS, has experience of the pinnacle of the trend for Chinese M&A in Europe, acting on the Swiss side of ChemChina’s $50 billion takeover of Syngenta, which was reaching closure at the end of the awards period. The bank’s work also included a defence against a less attractive offer by Monsanto.

Few people would have expected a firm following a bancassurance model with operations in the eastern bloc to be among Europe’s best-performing financial institutions. But that is what KBC has achieved.