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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.

For almost 50 years, Euromoney has been the leading publication for covering the growth of international finance. Over the past 12 months its coverage has included interviews with close to 100 bank CEOs, ministers of finance and central bank governors around the world.

It may not offer capital markets services or a vast balance sheet, but Lazard has advised public-sector clients through some of the most difficult situations in recent economic history.

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.

Citi aims to develop new banking apps with the speed of a Silicon Valley startup and deliver them across a vast incumbent bank.

Recovering profitability and capital as a result of restructuring, better economic growth and less threatening regulatory changes could see the European investment banks push back the Americans. There are already signs that Deutsche Bank is tentatively getting back on the front foot and could regain its position as the continent’s preeminent investment bank. Some European firms have forged an investment banking franchise with a very modern focus on returns instead of revenues.

It has been a year of catharsis for western Europe’s banking sector. Long-term problems in two of the continent’s biggest and most-fragmented banking markets – Germany and Italy – came to a head.

There are few banks that can advise wealthy clients across the multitude of different countries and cultures in CEE, but UniCredit has made itself the bank of choice for clients in nearly every single one, earning it the award for best bank for wealth management. Its focus for the last 12 months has been one of organic growth and innovation. The bank has focused on structured products.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch wins the award for best bank for advisory.

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.

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.

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.