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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.

To be a top bank in the financing arena in the last 12 months, you need to have demonstrated flexibility. The ability to move quickly from one market or currency to another, or to switch between different parts of the capital structure, requires product strength and the kind of internal coordination that many banks preach but few practise. One that has consistently made a virtue of such flexibility is Bank of America Merrill Lynch, our pick for North America’s best bank for financing.

This year’s award for best bank transformation in Africa goes to National Microfinance Bank of Tanzania, a bank which has become a model for other African institutions in the areas of mobile banking, SME lending and microfinance.

Kenya Commercial Bank wins this year’s award for best bank for corporate social responsibility in Africa for the work of the KCB Foundation and, in particular, two ground-breaking initiatives. Last year, it launched 2jiajiri (‘let’s employ ourselves’) – a youth enterprise development and employment initiative that works in partnership with more than 100 technical training institutions across Kenya. More than 12,000 students have taken part so far in the programme, which aims to turn young people into entrepreneurs by training them and connecting them to graduates in law, accounting and marketing to help them get their businesses off-the-ground.

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.