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Banking in Argentina has been challenging in recent years. Increasingly stringent regulation has required banks to lend to certain segments at capped interest rates, while high inflation has complicated other transactional business. The banking system has, by and large, coped well with the poor business environment, and now (in private) bankers are optimistic about the money to be made in the country – from mortgages and retail lending to corporate loans, securitizations and capital markets.

Results index In M&A, the period covered by the awards can be summarised in one word: complexity. It is rare that both M&A and restructuring are booming at the same time, but this has been the case the past 18 months, and that has played to one firm’s strengths. Lazard wins this year’s award for North America’s best bank for advisory.

Results index The current climate of stagnant growth and low interest rates has prompted many companies in North America to start looking for opportunities beyond their borders, some for the very first time. Helping them on that step has been Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which this year wins the award for North America’s best bank for transaction services.

Results index Despite difficult conditions and sanction restrictions which continue to affect the region, Société Générale has affirmed its strong commitment to CEE with a peerless transaction services offering. It is this year’s winner of the award for the best bank for transaction services in CEE.

Results index When it comes to managing the money of North America’s wealthy, one financial institution stands out. JPMorgan Private Bank wins this year’s award for North America’s best bank for wealth management. Behind it sits a bank, an asset manager, a brokerage firm, an investment bank and a trust company; together they manage a combined $650 billion in client assets.

Euromoney has decided on the best banks in Emerging Europe. But let’s also consider some editorial awards – for the good and the bad – that the strict criteria of the Awards for Excellence did not allow for

Results index Last year’s winner of best equity house and best investment bank in Africa, Citi, this year returns to win our new award for financing. The bank, which has long had a strong presence in Africa, is one of the few able to offer a comprehensive range of products throughout most of the continent. Last year it certainly showed that it could deliver on that offering.

Results index In a year of real hardship for its home country, during which South Africa’s finance minister declared the economy “in crisis”, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) nonetheless performed well and succeeded in dethroning Citi to claim the best investment bank in Africa award.

Results index Investment banking volumes in CEE took another hit in the awards period as Russian sanctions, rising political risk in Poland and Turkey and high levels of local liquidity kept both issuers and investors on the sidelines. International bond sales fell by almost a third year on year to just $42.7 billion, according to Dealogic, while primary equity activity all but disappeared. With the exception of a trio of semi-private Russian deals, just three IPOs worth more than $50 million emerged from the whole region in the 12 months to March, while total ECM issuance came in at just $3 billion. M&A appeared to be a slightly brighter spot, with volumes rising by 16.1% to $98.9 billion. That increase, however, was accounted for by a couple of large Russian take-privates and a transfer of assets between two Kazakh state-owned entities.

BNP Paribas wins region’s best bank award and is named best bank for transaction services and wealth management in western Europe; Barclays takes best investment bank title; ING, Santander and CaixaBank win inaugural regional awards in digital, CSR and SME categories respectively; ABN Amro stages the best bank transformation.

Lloyds has reached a milestone in its bid to transform itself into a lean and simple financial institution, well-suited to the post-crisis regulatory climate.

Results index The flexible local deployment of a global electronic platform is the reason why BBVA is at the forefront of digitizing retail banking in Latin America, taking the award for best digital bank in the region. The gains to the bank are clear: lower costs, higher efficiencies and the ability to compete throughout national markets without extending physical infrastructure.