Robust capital markets activity and lower credit provisions lifted first-half earnings at leading US banks, but gains were concentrated among the largest, most diversified institutions. JPMorgan Chase led the group in absolute pre-tax profit, while limited margin expansion and slower revenue growth at regional lenders exposed a widening earnings divide.

Swift has moved its blockchain-based shared ledger from concept to readiness for initial use in nine months, with 17 banks preparing to pilot live tokenised-deposit transactions. The test is whether a messaging cooperative can coordinate separate bank liabilities across borders without itself becoming a settlement institution.

This week, Bank Nizwa moved to acquire Oman's Alizz Islamic Bank, Revolut won approval to expand digital asset services in Dubai and UAE banks pressed ahead with blockchain payments and national card infrastructure.

This week, the European Commission proposed freer capital and liquidity movement across banking groups, JPMorgan pushed back on uneven US capital reforms, and the ECB flagged trade tensions tightening euro-area corporate lending.

From Emirates NBD's real-time dollar payments to Deutsche Bank's trade finance guarantees and BBVA's Swift retail scheme, this week saw banks racing to modernise cross-border and SME payment infrastructure.

Wall Street earnings, Europe's push to unlock bank liquidity and renewed monetary tightening in Asia highlighted a week in which banks balanced resilient profitability with an increasingly complex policy and operating environment.

CIMB has launched its Private Wealth proposition in Malaysia as part of a regional rollout across ASEAN. By combining regional investment advice, treasury capabilities and local relationship management, the bank aims to deepen affluent relationships and support Forward30’s target of doubling wealth assets under management by 2030.

Finance China 2026 highlighted how China's banking industry is moving beyond early AI deployment towards enterprise-wide transformation, with governance, customer outcomes and institutional capability emerging as the defining priorities for the next stage of adoption.

This year’s awards show how Chinese banks are embedding artificial intelligence (AI) into core operations, strengthening transaction banking capabilities and advancing digitally enabled retail and wealth management services.

North America's leading corporate and investment banks retained their global dominance in 2025, although their performance revealed widening efficiency gaps as revenue growth, regulatory changes and remediation costs shaped results.

HSBC’s Neil Falconer, Head of Innovation Banking, Singapore, discusses how the bank combines regional transaction services with selective financing for institutionally backed companies that have yet to achieve consistent profits. The model aims to retain successful start-ups as they develop into larger corporate and institutional banking clients.

Absa Mauritius is strengthening its transactional banking services to help corporates and SMEs navigate volatile cash flows and cross-border trade challenges. The bank is leveraging digital platforms, client-focused solutions and pan-African connectivity to support growth and resilience.

UOB Thailand’s retail transformation is entering its next phase defined not by expansion, but by disciplined rationalisation, digital scaling and segmentation-led profitability. Following the Citi portfolio migration, the bank is rebuilding its consumer franchise through tighter risk discipline, stronger digital adoption and a data-driven operating model anchored in customer lifetime value.

A decade ago, Nubank was a credit card start-up operating out of São Paulo. Today, at $16.3 billion in retail banking revenue (2025), it has surpassed HSBC and Standard Chartered’s global retail banking businesses and is on track to overtake Itaú Unibanco in Brazil in 2026 and Citigroup by 2027. What is emerging is not just rapid growth, but the early stages of a long-term strategy to build a global retail banking franchise.

As digital assets move into commercial deployment, Standard Chartered is preparing for their adoption across capital markets and payments by building capabilities in custody, tokenisation, settlement infrastructure and emerging payments.