Top 10 European Investment Banks 2026

Deutsche Bank reported €28.9 billion in revenue in 2024, cementing its return to profitability after years of restructuring under CEO Christian Sewing. Its investment bank remains a top-five global player in foreign exchange, fixed income, and rates trading, with a dominant position in European leveraged finance. Deutsche Bank's 2025 strategy focuses on its core German corporate client base, expanding the private bank, and deepening its US capital markets franchise. The Frankfurt-headquartered institution manages over €1.4 trillion in client assets.

Deutsche Bank

UBS Group recorded CHF 40 billion in revenue in 2024, supercharged by its emergency acquisition of Credit Suisse in March 2023 for CHF 3 billion — creating a $3.25 trillion AUM wealth management giant. The integration transformed UBS into the world's largest wealth manager and a top-five European investment bank, though absorbing Credit Suisse's troubled assets required significant provisions. In 2025-2026, UBS has restructured Credit Suisse's investment banking arm, retaining only the most profitable advisory and markets businesses while repositioning as the definitive Swiss banking champion.

UBS Group

Barclays generated £27 billion in total income in 2024, with its investment bank — Barclays Capital — ranking among the top global players in US and European fixed income, equities, and M&A advisory. CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan's "Three-Year Plan" (2024-2026) repositions Barclays as a transatlantic investment banking powerhouse, doubling down on its US markets franchise while streamlining the UK consumer bank. Barclays's global markets business processed over £20 trillion in fixed income trades in 2025, reflecting its strength in rates and credit.

Barclays

HSBC Global Banking & Markets generated $25 billion in revenue in 2024, leveraging its unparalleled Asia-Europe connectivity to dominate trade finance, FX, and cross-border M&A advisory. CEO Georges Elhedery's 2024 restructuring split HSBC into Eastern and Western markets units to sharpen focus on its most profitable corridors. HSBC's Hong Kong and London dual listing underscores its unique position bridging Chinese corporate clients with international capital markets. The bank's green and sustainable finance issuances exceeded $100 billion in cumulative volume by 2025.

HSBC Global Banking & Markets

Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking produced €6.8 billion in net banking income in 2024, with particular strength in equity derivatives — a product area where SocGen has historically ranked first globally. The bank's 2025-2026 restructuring under CEO Slawomir Krupa has involved the sale of its Lyxor ETF business to Amundi and a strategic pivot toward higher-margin advisory and structured credit. SocGen remains a go-to bank for complex equity-linked financing and cross-asset structured products for European and Asian institutional clients.

Societe Generale CIB

Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank contributed €6.5 billion in revenues to the group in 2024, with a dominant franchise in structured finance, green bonds, and agricultural commodity finance rooted in its cooperative banking heritage. CACIB is the world's leading arranger of green, social, and sustainability-linked bonds, reflecting the Agricole group's deep commitment to responsible finance. Its 2025-2026 strategy focuses on expanding its presence in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific while growing its debt capital markets franchise across European sovereigns and supranationals.

Credit Agricole CIB

Standard Chartered generated $5.5 billion in wholesale banking income in 2024, leveraging its emerging markets footprint across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia to serve multinational corporates with trade finance, FX, and project financing. CEO Bill Winters' "strategic refresh" for 2025-2026 targets a 12% return on equity by doubling down on wealth management in Asia and streamlining the corporate and institutional banking unit. Standard Chartered's unique position as a London-listed, Asia-focused bank makes it indispensable for clients navigating emerging market capital flows.

Standard Chartered

Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking reported €3.5 billion in revenues in 2024, carving out a differentiated niche in green infrastructure financing, real assets, and insurance-linked structured products for its BPCE group parent and external clients. Its "New Dimension" 2025-2026 plan focuses on green and infrastructure finance, leveraging Natixis's position as a leading arranger of renewable energy project bonds. The Paris-based bank's asset management arm, Natixis Investment Managers, oversees $1.3 trillion in AUM across 20+ affiliated boutique managers.

Natixis CIB

Rothschild & Co generated €2.5 billion in advisory revenues in 2024, cementing its status as Europe's premier M&A and restructuring boutique with an unrivalled rolodex of European family-owned conglomerates, sovereign governments, and global corporates. The bank advised on over 700 transactions in 2024, consistently ranking #1 in European M&A by deal count. The 2024 delisting from Euronext Paris and return to full Rothschild family control — led by Alexandre de Rothschild — marked a historic moment for the 200-year-old institution as it pursued long-term value creation free from quarterly earnings pressure.

Rothschild & Co

Deutsche Bank reported €28.9 billion in revenue in 2024, cementing its return to profitability after years of restructuring under CEO Christian Sewing. Its investment bank remains a top-five global player in foreign exchange, fixed income, and rates trading, with a dominant position in European leveraged finance. Deutsche Bank's 2025 strategy focuses on its core German corporate client base, expanding the private bank, and deepening its US capital markets franchise. The Frankfurt-headquartered institution manages over €1.4 trillion in client assets.

Deutsche Bank

UBS Group recorded CHF 40 billion in revenue in 2024, supercharged by its emergency acquisition of Credit Suisse in March 2023 for CHF 3 billion — creating a $3.25 trillion AUM wealth management giant. The integration transformed UBS into the world's largest wealth manager and a top-five European investment bank, though absorbing Credit Suisse's troubled assets required significant provisions. In 2025-2026, UBS has restructured Credit Suisse's investment banking arm, retaining only the most profitable advisory and markets businesses while repositioning as the definitive Swiss banking champion.

UBS Group

Barclays generated £27 billion in total income in 2024, with its investment bank — Barclays Capital — ranking among the top global players in US and European fixed income, equities, and M&A advisory. CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan's "Three-Year Plan" (2024-2026) repositions Barclays as a transatlantic investment banking powerhouse, doubling down on its US markets franchise while streamlining the UK consumer bank. Barclays's global markets business processed over £20 trillion in fixed income trades in 2025, reflecting its strength in rates and credit.

Barclays

HSBC Global Banking & Markets generated $25 billion in revenue in 2024, leveraging its unparalleled Asia-Europe connectivity to dominate trade finance, FX, and cross-border M&A advisory. CEO Georges Elhedery's 2024 restructuring split HSBC into Eastern and Western markets units to sharpen focus on its most profitable corridors. HSBC's Hong Kong and London dual listing underscores its unique position bridging Chinese corporate clients with international capital markets. The bank's green and sustainable finance issuances exceeded $100 billion in cumulative volume by 2025.

HSBC Global Banking & Markets

Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking produced €6.8 billion in net banking income in 2024, with particular strength in equity derivatives — a product area where SocGen has historically ranked first globally. The bank's 2025-2026 restructuring under CEO Slawomir Krupa has involved the sale of its Lyxor ETF business to Amundi and a strategic pivot toward higher-margin advisory and structured credit. SocGen remains a go-to bank for complex equity-linked financing and cross-asset structured products for European and Asian institutional clients.

Societe Generale CIB

Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank contributed €6.5 billion in revenues to the group in 2024, with a dominant franchise in structured finance, green bonds, and agricultural commodity finance rooted in its cooperative banking heritage. CACIB is the world's leading arranger of green, social, and sustainability-linked bonds, reflecting the Agricole group's deep commitment to responsible finance. Its 2025-2026 strategy focuses on expanding its presence in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific while growing its debt capital markets franchise across European sovereigns and supranationals.

Credit Agricole CIB

Standard Chartered generated $5.5 billion in wholesale banking income in 2024, leveraging its emerging markets footprint across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia to serve multinational corporates with trade finance, FX, and project financing. CEO Bill Winters' "strategic refresh" for 2025-2026 targets a 12% return on equity by doubling down on wealth management in Asia and streamlining the corporate and institutional banking unit. Standard Chartered's unique position as a London-listed, Asia-focused bank makes it indispensable for clients navigating emerging market capital flows.

Standard Chartered

Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking reported €3.5 billion in revenues in 2024, carving out a differentiated niche in green infrastructure financing, real assets, and insurance-linked structured products for its BPCE group parent and external clients. Its "New Dimension" 2025-2026 plan focuses on green and infrastructure finance, leveraging Natixis's position as a leading arranger of renewable energy project bonds. The Paris-based bank's asset management arm, Natixis Investment Managers, oversees $1.3 trillion in AUM across 20+ affiliated boutique managers.

Natixis CIB

Rothschild & Co generated €2.5 billion in advisory revenues in 2024, cementing its status as Europe's premier M&A and restructuring boutique with an unrivalled rolodex of European family-owned conglomerates, sovereign governments, and global corporates. The bank advised on over 700 transactions in 2024, consistently ranking #1 in European M&A by deal count. The 2024 delisting from Euronext Paris and return to full Rothschild family control — led by Alexandre de Rothschild — marked a historic moment for the 200-year-old institution as it pursued long-term value creation free from quarterly earnings pressure.

Rothschild & Co