Explore the top investment banks of 2025, highlighting their achievements and contributions across key global categories in the industry.
The world of investment banking is constantly evolving, with top institutions around the globe leading the charge in various categories, from initial public offerings (IPOs) to sustainable finance.
In 2025, we saw some of the biggest names in the industry continue to dominate, leveraging their expertise, relationships, and innovative approaches to stay ahead. These banks not only facilitated record-breaking transactions but also introduced new financial products and technologies to meet the demands of a rapidly changing market.
Whether it was Goldman Sachs’ impressive performance in IPO execution, BTG Pactual’s leadership in Latin America’s investment-banking scene, or Societe Generale’s commitment to sustainable finance, these firms have proven their adaptability and resilience in an increasingly complex financial landscape.
Best Investment Bank
Best Bank For IPOs
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs leveraged extensive corporate relationships, deep industry coverage, and exceptional origination and advisory capabilities throughout 2025. As favorable financial markets provided the catalyst for resurgent capital-markets activity, global investment-banking revenue topped $100 billion. That’s the second-highest level since 2021.
The firm participated in some of the largest global transactions, including Hess Corporation’s $53 billion sale to Chevron. In a deal that exemplifies the long-standing relationships Goldman Sachs cultivates, the bank advised Juniper Networks in its $14 billion merger with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a culmination of Juniper’s role as a key client, Goldman having served as the lead underwriter for the company’s 1999 IPO. Going forward, the bank continues to maintain its leadership in large transactions, as evidenced by the announced $48.7 billion acquisition of Kenvue by Kimberly-Clark in the consumer health care sector.
Goldman Sachs also demonstrated strength in IPO execution. After equity-market volatility subsided last spring, a rebound with more-favorable global financial markets provided opportunities for private equity firms to take portfolio companies public.
In sponsor-backed deals, Goldman participated in the largest deal of 2025, for Illinois-based health care firm Medline, which had its offering upsized to $7.2 billion in issuance proceeds. In the regions of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), the bank served as a global coordinator on five of the largest sponsor-backed IPOs, including 903 million Swiss francs ($1.1 billion) for SMG Swiss Marketplace and a $3.7 billion deal for security services firm Verisure. Additionally, the IPO of Swedish fintech Klarna raised $1.4 billion. These deals are helping the bank retain its No. 1 spot in EMEA deal volume, with an 11% market share.
In Asia, Goldman participated in the $4.6 billion IPO of battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, and two metals-sector IPOs: a $3.2 billion deal for China’s Zijin Gold and a $3 billion deal for Tokyo-based JX Advanced Metals. —David Sanders
Best In Emerging Markets
BTG Pactual
Volatile currencies and elevated interest rates persisted across emerging markets in 2025. As a result, issuers and sponsors gravitated once more toward banks with deep regional expertise and strong investor access. Against this backdrop, BTG Pactual thrived in Latin America, posting record investment-banking revenue of 2.5 billion Brazilian reais (about $456 million) in 2025, up 19% year over year.
The Brazilian giant led several key segments of the Latin American investment-banking market, ranking first in equity capital markets, with roughly $2.4 billion in issuance, and in M&A activity among local banks, with more than $17 billion in volume. Debt capital-markets activity remained equally significant, with BTG distributing 35.7 billion reais of fixed-income instruments across 120 transactions.
Among the large strategic transactions that defined the region’s institutional activity, BTG served as exclusive financial adviser on the 15 billion-real delisting tender offer of Serena Energia and on the 15 billion-real sale by Paper Excellence of a 49.4% stake in pulp producer Eldorado Brasil Celulose to J&F Investimentos. BTG also advised Equatorial Energia on the 9.4 billion-real sale of its power-transmission portfolio to Canada’s CDPQ, and on Eletrobras’ 535 million-real sale of its stake in Eletronuclear. —Thomas Monteiro
Best In Frontier Markets
Standard Chartered
Investors targeting frontier economies often contend with macroeconomic instability and unpredictable legal and regulatory frameworks. To navigate these challenges, partnering with a firm that has deep market expertise is essential. Standard Chartered is the compass across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. With a presence in 53 markets and over 170 years of history, Standard Chartered combines global expertise and local insight to deliver end-to-end solutions. The bank is also a leader in sustainable finance, managing $17.4 billion in green assets across more than 350 projects. This year, it raised $1.1 billion through its first dedicated green bond for a just transition. Notable deals include a $29 million interest rate swap for Renata Plc in Bangladesh to manage loan volatility, a $300 million railway financing project in Kazakhstan, and a $70 million loan to the International Finance Corporation in Kenya to support local currency digital infrastructure financing. —John Njiraini
Best Investment Bank For Sustainable Financing
Societe Generale
Despite a challenging year for sustainable finance due to shifting regulatory policies in the US, French titan Societe Generale (SocGen) continued to push forward on its ambitious target of mobilizing €500 billion (about $571 billion) in sustainable finance between 2024 and 2030. This includes €400 billion in financing and €100 billion in sustainable bonds. In the UK, SocGen acted as joint global coordinator and bookrunner on $1.1 billion in green financing for National Grid Electricity Transmission’s share in the construction of the Eastern Green Link 2 project, a 505 km (about 314 miles) subsea transmission cable designed to transport up to 2 GW of renewable electricity from Scottish wind farms to England, enough to power over 2 million homes.
Societe Generale also acted as mandated lead arranger and bookrunner on £5.5 billion (about $7.3 billion) of green loan financing for the Sizewell C nuclear power station in the UK, a key part of the country’s low-carbon energy strategy. The bank also supported industrial decarbonization, serving as mandated lead arranger and lender on €1.7 billion for the Power4Steel project in Germany, which aims to reduce carbon emissions from steel production by 55% by 2030. —TM
Best Multilateral Finance Institution
EBRD
In a year marked by geopolitical instability, climate pressures, and widening development gaps, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) continued to demonstrate how multilateral finance can catalyze economic resilience. In 2025, it invested a record €16.8 billion across 640 projects, allocating roughly three-quarters of its financing to the private sector to strengthen market economies and support inclusive development across the EBRD’s regions of operation.
A major priority remained the reconstruction and stabilization of Ukraine, where the bank deployed approximately €2.9 billion to maintain essential infrastructure and sustain private sector activity during wartime. The EBRD also committed significant resources to rebuilding the country’s electricity system, restoring generation capacity and protecting energy networks.
Beyond Ukraine, EBRD supported infrastructure and economic transformation across its regions. In the Western Balkans, it launched a €377 million program to help SMEs invest in digital modernization and green technologies. Meanwhile, in Turkey, the institution invested €2.7 billion across 54 projects in 2025, supporting renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure, and private sector development. —TM
Best Bank For Client-Facing Technology
Emirates NBD Capital
To seamlessly provide access to capital markets, Emirates NBD Capital (ENBD Capital) offers its clients a streamlined distribution platform through the bank’s e-IPO portal, a fully digital subscription system that provides simple access to IPOs on the Dubai Financial Market stock exchange. With the portal, ENBD Capital clients benefit from an efficient mechanism that allows issuers to reach the bank’s retail, private banking, and wealth management clients via integration with the bank’s leading ENBD-X app. The e-IPO service also embeds greater functionality into the clients’ banking workflows, including a single interface to view offering details, the ability for investors to register their order interest, and integration with the UAE central bank’s Payment Gateway System for transaction settlement.
Additionally, physical documentation and fund transfers are automated, maximizing investor participation in ENBD Capital-led IPOs. The bank also offers businessONLINE, a mobile app for corporate and institutional clients that consolidates cash management, trade finance, and treasury services into one interface, allowing clients to monitor accounts, balances, transaction histories, and liquidity across currencies and geographies. —DS
Best Bank For New Financial Products
Bradesco BBI
To reach a wider client base, Bradesco BBI continues to modernize its product suite by furthering Bradesco’s “AI-First” approach to focus on expanding its digital platforms for corporate clients and middle-market advisory services. Bradesco invested 200 million Brazilian reais in the launch of a new cash-management system designed to seamlessly integrate with clients’ enterprise resource planning systems to improve liquidity management.
Additionally, the bank has taken steps to create efficiencies in other areas, such as moving its global trade-finance platform and foreign-exchange capabilities to the wholesale-banking unit to better serve corporate clients. As part of its strategic plan, digital enhancements, including a new corporate banking app, boosted service offerings and net promoter satisfaction scores. By focusing on middle-market services, such as improved capital markets and corporate banking products, Bradesco increased its 2025 SME market share to 17%, up from 14%. —DS
