The headwinds facing the world’s largest investment banks have taken their toll on revenues, productivity, operating margins and headcount. 

Beijing reigns supreme in the ranking of international financial centres by bank data, outstripping main rival New York by some way. Silvia Pavoni reports.

In the past decade, banks in Asia have seen the most aggressive growth in investment banking fees, followed by those in the US. Meanwhile, Europe lags behind, as Kat Van Hoof reports.

Rankings of IFCs by the number of business schools and Internal Baccalaureate establishments put Boston and Chicago at the top. 

Bank consolidation in sub-Saharan Africa is in full swing. Large and stable banks are growing steadily as a result, while many small and inefficient banks are disappearing. 

In a year of haves and have-nots, Asian banks took the biggest beating, fronted by an overall pre-tax profit decline in both China and Japan.