Search results for

Results index In digital innovation, however, no bank in the US can touch BBVA Compass, which wins the award for North America’s best digital bank. Whereas large domestic banks have pushed back against disrupters, BBVA Compass exemplifies what can happen when a bank embraces them. That journey began more than five years ago when the bank began overhauling its core technology system into a real-time platform, making it among the first to implement real time processing. It was almost unheard of for US banking customers to have that level of transparency and control, but then BBVA Compass took it to a new level: it opened its platform to digital innovators. As a result, customers of BBVA Compass can send and receive funds instantly through Dwolla rather than wait for Automated Clearing House.

The Dutch bank’s return to private hands in late 2015 was the culmination of a huge restructuring operation that has created one of the most profitable and best capitalized institutions in Europe.

North America's best bank for financing North America's best bank for advisory North America's best bank for markets

Results index The theme in Latin American investment banking has been rationalization over the past 12 months. In particular, this has created difficulties for those spreading the good word about HSBC in Latin America in recent years. It might surprise those outside the region, therefore, that HSBC wins the award for best bank for financing in Latin America.

Results index Erste Bank’s deep relationships across central and eastern Europe, with governments, corporates and individuals, are unparalleled, which makes it an even more compelling bank for the region’s wealthy. Erste Bank wins the award for this year’s best bank in the region for wealth management.

Results index A firm that looks likely to buck the downward trend among European investment banks on the home continent is UBS. The Swiss bank has continued to recruit in areas crucial to its growth in its corporate client solutions division over the past year. These included M&A, leveraged finance, the UK, as well as sector bankers – building on its long-standing capacity in areas such as equity capital markets and financial-institutions, even if it was slightly behind Barclays for the overall investment banking award this year.

Results index Finding examples of troubled banks is easy in Europe in 2016. Happily, there are other examples of banks whose management has succeeded in turning around their institutions, often putting bailed-out banks back on a more sustainable course.

Few truly global wealth managers remain, but even if they did it would be hard to compete with UBS, the only bank to put wealth management at its core.

Results index In dramatic contrast to its increasingly regressive politics, Turkey’s banking sector remains among the most advanced and sophisticated in the developing markets. Over the past 15 years, a combination of high profitability and outstanding growth opportunities in a relatively open market has fuelled intense competition between the country’s lenders.

Results index Africa’s home-grown banks are growing in strength across the whole continent, pushing back the previous dominance of the international institutions. Ecobank’s growth marks a success story of Africa’s growing need for transaction banking services and makes it a deserved winner of our award this year. In 2012 the bank took the decision to separate its transaction banking business and since then it has expanded in strength and reach.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Euromoney Awards for Excellence. They were the first of their kind in the global financial publishing industry. The nature of the global banking industry is constantly changing, and this year we made fundamental changes to the categories to reflect this.

A list of winners of Euromoney’s Africa Awards for Excellence 2016, as well as detailed citations for all of the winners, is available here