Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citi lead with broad-based improvements across digital execution, financial performance and brand depth. MUFG, First Abu Dhabi Bank, United Overseas Bank, ICBC, Deutsche Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Barclays also rank among the top 10 global CIW banks. Top 100 CIW banks reflect growing divergence across regional peer groups, with Middle Eastern institutions leading on efficiency and several established institutions losing ground as the competitive benchmark moved. Kuala Lumpur, 14 May 2026 — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citi have secured the top three positions in the 2026 TABInsights World’s 100 Best Corporate, Investment and Wholesale (CIW) Banks Ranking, reflecting how leading institutions are combining scale, digital investment and diversified transaction banking capabilities to strengthen relationships with corporate and institutional clients. The ranking evaluates the top 100 CIW banks globally across seven dimensions: corporate customers, digital journey, financial performance, business mandates, employees, brand strength and coverage and risk management. The assessment is based primarily on publicly reported results and submissions covering FY2025 performance, with comparative analysis against FY2024. This year’s rankings highlight how global wholesale banks are operating in an increasingly competitive and technology-driven environment. Institutions are accelerating investments in digital transaction banking platforms, artificial intelligence, treasury solutions and cross-border connectivity while maintaining disciplined risk management and improving operational efficiency. Transaction banking, payments, liquidity management and foreign exchange businesses continue to emerge as critical revenue drivers for leading wholesale banking franchises. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citi lead the 2026 ranking Bank of America leads this edition with improvements across corporate client coverage, risk management and business mandate breadth complementing its perfect digital journey score. Nearly 70% of its corporate clients actively use CashPro Chat for account access, transaction tracking and service resolution, reflecting the depth of its operational integration across its institutional franchise. JPMorgan Chase follows, recording revenue growth of 11.8% and a pre-tax return on assets (ROA) of 1.9% in FY2025. Its Payments franchise serves clients across more than 160 countries and 120 currencies, processing over $10 trillion daily with a straight-through processing rate of approximately 99%. Citi rounds out the top three, with transaction banking accounting for 60.4% of total CIW revenue, the highest proportion among all 100 ranked institutions and its cost-to-income ratio (CIR) improving from 61.9% to 57.1% year-on-year (YoY), reflecting progress in its ongoing organisational restructuring. MUFG, First Abu Dhabi Bank and UOB rank among the top global CIW performers The top 10 also includes MUFG, First Abu Dhabi Bank, United Overseas Bank (UOB), ICBC, Deutsche Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Barclays, reflecting a diverse set of institutional models spanning globally scaled franchises, regionally concentrated institutions and banks undertaking multi-year transformation programmes. First Abu Dhabi Bank stands out among the top 10 for financial efficiency, recording a pre-tax ROA of 2.6% and CIR of 15.0%, supported by revenue growth of 14.3% in FY2025, reflecting the structural advantage of its concentrated GCC franchise and government-linked balance sheet flows. United Overseas Bank remains one of Asia's strongest transaction banking franchises, recording a pre-tax ROA of 1.4% and CIR of 26.6% in FY2025, with its UOB Infinity platform supporting growing corporate client adoption across ASEAN markets and its regional network and cross-border banking capabilities positioning it strongly among companies expanding supply chains and treasury operations across Southeast Asia. Barclays entered the top 10 for the first time, moving from rank 25 to rank 10, driven primarily by a substantial improvement in risk management alongside gains in brand strength and corporate client coverage, reflecting broad-based progress across its multi-year transformation programme. Top 100 CIW banks reflect growing divergence and a shifting competitive landscape Al Rajhi Bank records the largest individual rank improvement in this year’s ranking, driven by a digital transformation that drove revenue growth of 26.1% in FY2025, with digital channels accounting for approximately 95% of customer interactions and its CIR falling from 30.6% to 19.0%. Rabobank, SEB and DZ Bank each recorded strong improvements, with all three institutions recording gains across financial performance, digital journey, brand strength and risk management simultaneously. Several large Chinese banks recorded their most significant ranking declines in this edition, as CIW revenue contraction and limited digital progress relative to advancing peers compressed their competitive standing. Middle Eastern banks recorded the strongest average CIR improvement of any regional peer group in FY2025. Emirates NBD posted a CIR of 10.4%, Saudi National Bank 12.3% and First Abu Dhabi Bank 15.0%, as concentrated domestic franchises, low-cost deposit bases and government-linked balance sheet flows sustain structural efficiency advantages that have proved difficult to replicate in more complex multi-geography institutions. African institutions delivered strong pre-tax ROA metrics, with FirstRand recording 3.2% and Standard Bank 2.5%, each driven by transaction banking embeddedness rather than capital markets activity. In Europe, BBVA at CIR 28.2% and pre-tax ROA 1.8% and Intesa Sanpaolo at CIR 32.2% and pre-tax ROA 2.4%, stand apart from larger universal bank peers through franchise concentration in higher-growth markets. Among North American banks, Royal Bank of Canada recorded the strongest efficiency improvement in the region, with its CIR falling from 58.8% to 47.0% on revenue growth of 18.5%. In Latin America, Itaú Unibanco delivered a pre-tax ROA of 2.1% with its CIR improving from 36.6% to 31.1%, driven by revenue growth of 7.9%, placing it among the more efficient institutions in the ranking and reflecting disciplined cost management within Brazil's largest private sector banking franchise. Across all regional peer groups, the 2026 ranking confirms that the institutions recording the most durable financial performance improvement are those where revenue growth has outpaced cost growth, whether through structural market advantages, portfolio quality improvement or deliberate franchise concentration. The institutions where improvement stalled or reversed shared a common characteristic: the operating model remained unchanged while revenue growth moderated, a pattern visible across multiple regional peer groups. View the full World’s Best 100 Corporate, Investment and Wholesale Banks Ranking here. About the World’s Best 100 Corporate, Investment and Wholesale Banks Ranking TABInsights, the research arm of TAB Global, evaluates leading corporate, investment and wholesale banks and ranks them based on their performance across seven critical areas: corporate clients, digital journey, financial performance, business mandates, employees, brand strength and coverage and risk management. This thorough assessment provides a detailed analysis of each institution’s strengths and performance across these dimensions. About TABInsights TABInsights is the global research arm of TAB Global, interacting with a wide spectrum of financial institutions across the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and African regions. TABInsights provides a range of custom and bespoke research for financial institutions in emerging and established markets to facilitate management decision-making process and guide business strategy. TABInsights provides strategic analysis and recommendations to institutions across all verticals including retail, transaction, risk and technology functions. Visit our website for details. About TAB Global TAB Global owns and manages a number of world class digital content platforms namely, The Asian Banker, Wealth and Society, BankQuality.com as well as learning platforms like The Banking Academy and The Skill Store. Incorporated in Singapore, it has offices in Beijing, Dubai and support offices in Kuala Lumpur and Manila, with plans to expand to Johannesburg, London, Zurich and New York. Visit https://www.tab.global/ for details. For media enquiries, please contact: Nanda Lakhwani Editor TAB Global Email: nlakwani@tab.global
