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The recognition underscores the bank’s continued focus on enhancing customer experience through digital innovation, convenience, and meaningful engagement.

Launched in July 2024, BetterBanking Rewards quickly gained traction among cardholders, delivering a seamless platform where customers can redeem, view, and manage rewards in real time.

As of May 2026, nearly 125,000 customers had enrolled in the platform, reflecting strong adoption across the bank’s cardholder base. Since launch, customers have redeemed more than 1.14 billion rewards points, equivalent to over PHP68.3 million in redemption value, demonstrating the program’s ability to deliver tangible benefits that customers actively use and enjoy.

The program’s growth has remained consistently strong, achieving an average 5% month-on-month increase in redemption volume since 2025. This sustained momentum highlights the increasing relevance of rewards as an integral part of customers’ everyday banking experience.

Beyond scale, BetterBanking Rewards has strengthened customer engagement. The average active-user rate increased from 42% in 2025 to 76% in 2026, reflecting deeper participation among enrolled cardholders and growing use of the platform’s features.

Designed with efficiency and sustainability in mind, BetterBanking Rewards features an automated system that streamlines rewards processing while reducing manual intervention. Reward points are credited automatically once eligible transactions are successfully posted, eliminating the need for manual processing and enabling a seamless customer experience.

The platform’s Pay with Rewards feature allows cardholders to redeem points instantly at the point of sale, making rewards accessible in real time and enhancing convenience for everyday purchases.

The program’s impact goes beyond rewards redemption. Cardholders who enrolled in BetterBanking Rewards recorded a 5% increase in transaction volume following registration. Billings generated during the three-month period after enrollment reached PHP14.5 billion, compared to PHP13.8 billion during the three-month period before enrollment, highlighting stronger customer engagement and usage.

Beyond convenience, the program enables customers to create a positive social impact. Through the platform, cardholders can convert their reward points into donations for partner organisations such as the Philippine Red Cross, Security Bank Foundation, World Vision, and Bantay Bata.

These contributions help fund initiatives related to disaster response, education, and child welfare, allowing customers to support meaningful causes directly through their everyday transactions.

In addition, BetterBanking Rewards promotes sustainable consumption through non-material redemption options, such as eVouchers. By offering digital alternatives to traditional rewards, the program helps reduce the need for physical items and supports the bank’s efforts to integrate environmentally responsible practices into its operations.

Maricar Filart, VP and Credit Cards Head, expressed her gratitude for the recognition, stating, “Winning the Best Customer Loyalty Program award is a reflection of our commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction. BetterBanking Rewards is not just a program — it’s a promise to continuously enhance the banking experience while championing sustainability and community impact.”

This award marks another milestone for the BetterBanking Rewards Program, and is its second major recognition since its inception. The recognition affirms Security Bank’s commitment to delivering BetterBanking experiences through innovation, convenience, and customer-centric design.

As the program continues to grow, the bank remains focused on creating more rewarding ways for customers to engage, transact, and make a positive impact through their everyday banking activities.

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The announcement came alongside stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings, with Commerzbank reporting a 94% year-on-year jump in net profit to 898 million euro, comfortably beating analysts’ consensus forecast of 845 million euro. The performance was driven by stronger commission income, giving management added momentum as negotiations gathered pace.

Chief executive Bettina Orlopp said discussions had started “in the genuine interest of both UniCredit and Commerzbank,” adding that both lenders were focused on creating value for shareholders, customers and employees.

“We have started talks on this, which is in the genuine interest of both UniCredit and Commerzbank, as we are both determined to create value for our shareholders, clients and employees,” she told the analysts.

“I’m optimistic that, step by step, we can find common ground on governance and also on the business model,” she told analysts, signalling a markedly softer tone after months of resisting UniCredit’s advances.

The change in stance reflects the growing influence of UniCredit, which has built a 48% stake in Commerzbank as part of its 45 billion (USD 52 billion) euro takeover pursuit.

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Banco BPM’s retreat came after its main shareholder, France’s Credit Agricole, gave a downvote to the deal, stating it would not bring any significant value, given the fact that it was a tie-up between the two mid-sized banks.

Credit Agricole CEO Olivier Gavalda, whose venture is Banco BPM’s largest shareholder with a 29.3% stake, also stated that he wasn’t approached about any project involving MPS and Banco BPM and is not aware of “any concrete proposal.”

“At ⁠this stage, it is very difficult to see how a combination between MPS and Banco BPM can be value-accretive ⁠for Banco BPM shareholders,” Gavalda said, while stating that Credit Agricole, which has four seats ⁠on Banco BPM’s board, would assess any proposal based on its ⁠strategic merits, execution risks and ability to create long-term value. He even preferred to combine Agricole’s own Italian unit with Banco BPM.

Post Gavalda’s remarks, BPM’s board decided to halt any discussions with MPS over a potential merger given no definitive progress had been made since it sought merger talks.

MPS, reacting to the news, said it had taken note of the position of both BPM and Credit Agricole and agreed to end any preliminary consultations, which it saw as necessary before proper negotiations.

“We would continue to assess all strategic options in the best interest of its shareholders, employees, and clients,” it said further.

The development also comes as a setback for the Italian government, which rescued MPS in 2017, as it promoted a merger with BPM that would combine the two mid-sized banks and create a third large player alongside Intesa and UniCredit.

The government’s efforts, however, prompted UniCredit to step in with a bid for BPM in late 2024, which ‌subsequently failed. UniCredit was the ⁠largest bank in Italy until Intesa in 2020 completed a hostile acquisition of a second-tier bank.

While UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel has remained focused on a takeover of Germany’s Commerzbank, taking advantage of the situation, Intesa, in June 2026, put forward an unsolicited 35 billion euro merger offer for MPS.

Intesa, which holds a one-fifth market share in Italian banking, had steered clear of a first round of banking consolidation in Italy. That wave in 2025 culminated in Monte dei Paschi buying merchant bank Mediobanca and becoming the main investor in the sector’s ⁠most prized asset: insurer Generali.

MPS has said Intesa’s offer was insufficient, without formally rejecting it. As per the reports, the Tuscany-based bank would pursue an alternative to Intesa’s proposed deal only if it created more value for shareholders, with the 3 billion euro cash component in Intesa’s bid setting a benchmark.

Intesa’s cash-and-share offer for MPS that would create the euro zone’s second-largest listed lender by market value, saw the largest Italian bank offering 1.6 of its own shares plus 1 euro in cash for each MPS share tendered at a 12.5% premium to the latter’s shares’ closing price on the last trading day before the bid announcement.

“The premium appears lower than the average level ‌of premia ⁠observed in comparable voluntary public tender and/or exchange offers in the Italian banking sector, equal to approximately 30%,” MPS said on July 16.

“The MPS board also expressed doubts about annual pre-tax synergies of 2.9 billion euro Intesa projected as part ⁠of its bid, composed of both cost savings and revenue enhancement. They ‘appear high relative to the economic scale’ of the MPS assets in the deal,” it said.

To address competition concerns, Intesa has agreed to sell to insurer Unipol, a ⁠banking business comprising around 635 MPS branches, roughly half the network, and the lender’s central offices in Siena.

Unipol, the largest investor in BPER Banca, will then merge those assets with BPER to create a bank ⁠operating under the Banca Monte dei Paschi name.

However, MPS still sees significant uncertainty remaining over antitrust reviews, including possible remedies regulators could require and assessments linked to Intesa’s acquisition of the Generali stake through the MPS deal.

However, Intesa has refused to give in to MPS’ demands, with its CEO Carlo Messina stating, “There is zero possibility that we will increase our price for Monte dei Paschi.”

Messina further hit back at his merger target by stating that MPS traded at about 15 times earnings, compared with about 11 times for Intesa and UniCredit.

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The announcement, made to staff on the bank’s intranet and seen by the media outlet Reuters, marks a significant turn in the months-long battle ⁠over control of Germany’s second-largest lender.

While Orlopp and her management team have been opposed to a tie-up, they have conducted several – yet unsuccessful – talks with UniCredit in the past months.

“In the weeks and months ahead, Commerzbank and UniCredit will engage in discussions to determine, step by step, how to move forward,” Orlopp told employees in the internal post, while stating the goal of the talks will be to strengthen the bank’s systemic relevance to Germany.

“The German federal government, employee representatives, and our supervisory board have ⁠all made clear that they now expect UniCredit to engage with Commerzbank constructively. And I think UniCredit is ready for that, too. Because without dialogue, there can be no value creation,” she said further.

Orcel also expressed the willingness to negotiate with the German government and Commerzbank employees. However, the approach, as per the analysts, would be a problematic one, as it looks to sidestep the German lender’s management.

It is worth mentioning that the German Finance Ministry oversees a 12% stake in the Commerzbank, which has been held by the government since the venture’s bailout during the global financial crisis.

UniCredit invested in Commerzbank in ⁠September 2024, launching a nearly two-year tug-of-war that pitted Italy’s and Germany’s number two banks against each other. UniCredit has since built a 48% stake in its rival.

Orlopp’s statement comes after the message of the bank’s chairman, Jens Weidmann, who said that the Italian bank’s dominance of its shareholder base ⁠meant “constructive talks” were needed to establish a framework in the interests of shareholders and staff.

While stating that Commerzbank would have preferred a different outcome from the whole saga, Weidmann implied that he had no other choice but to enter the talks ‌with ⁠the Orcel-led venture.

“We have to have constructive talks to establish the key parameters for staff, shareholders and the customers of the bank. Everyone needs to act like adults now, because one thing is certain: ⁠These discussions are in UniCredit’s interest as well, and there will be no ⁠shortcut via Berlin,” Weidmann ⁠said.

Weidmann’s response came within the 24 hours of UniCredit’s remark, in which it asked its German counterpart to start adopting the strategy the Italian bank ‌has mapped out in January 2026.

Orcel, from his part, raised the pitch further by stating that his business had the option of using its 48% stake to install a new board.

The whole takeover saga, which has also seen severe opposition from the German government, has been the grim reminder about ⁠the difficulty of merging large banks across Eurozone countries, despite policymakers wanting more tie-ups to compete with bigger American rivals.

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The remarkable resurgence in the past 2-1/2 years came after more than a decade of rock-bottom interest rates and concerns about eurozone government debt, which soured investor sentiment towards their banking stocks.

From a sector known for generating indifferent investor sentiment, Europe’s banking industry has now become one of the best-performing in the world, with the STOXX Europe Banks index remaining at its highest range since late 2007. The rally, since 2024, has been an outstanding one, with the index rising by 143%, with higher interest rates boosting interest income, apart from swelling loan demand. So magnificent has been the performance, that the sector has defied Europe’s subpar economic growth.

Meet the key Q2 performers

Deutsche Bank
The German lender has reported a 10% jump in its second-quarter profit, with strong earnings from its global investment banking division offsetting a rise in overall operational expenses.

However, it failed to catch up with some of the American and European rivals, who benefitted from tailwinds like trading booms in the wake of the Iran war, merger and acquisition deals and initial public offerings (IPOs).

Germany’s largest bank recorded net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.64 billion euro (USD 1.87 billion) in the quarter, up from 1.49 billion euro a year earlier, bettering analysts’ expectations for a profit of 1.38 billion euro.

However, the bull run was partially dampened by an 8% expense increase.

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Deutsche Bank’s 10% profit jump still got dwarfed in front of its five top American rivals, who reported 50% increases on average, helped by booming share trading, a business the German lender exited years ago.

Deutsche’s global investment bank generated 19% more revenue than in Q1. Within the division, revenue at the fixed-income and currency trading verticals, one of the bank’s largest, rose 16%, beating the expectations for a 5.1% increase. Here, the lender outpaced rivals like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and BNP Paribas.

Business, including origination and advisory services, was 36% higher, double the figure expected by the analysts. The lender was also among the ones helping with SpaceX’s IPO and Alphabet’s capital-raising.

UBS
The Swiss biggie, awaiting for clarity on new capital rules that could shape its future, booked a 17% jump in Q2 profit that beat analysts’ expectations, while announcing the plans to buy back shares worth USD 3 billion by the middle of 2027 ‌at the latest.

Apart from witnessing robust broad-based growth, UBS’ trading division delivered record quarterly revenue, in line with strong earnings both from Wall Street and European rivals.

Net profit attributable to shareholders came in at USD 2.8 billion versus a forecast of USD 2.39 billion in a company-provided poll of analysts.

UBS, which took over rival Credit Suisse after its collapse in 2023, achieved a return on Common Equity Tier 1 capital of around 17% for the first half — above its target of 15% at the 2026-end.

UBS’ Q2 net new assets for its global wealth management division came in at USD 36 billion, led by inflows of USD 14.3 billion in Switzerland. From the Americas, there was an inflow of USD 1 billion, the second consecutive positive quarter after a run of outflows due to the loss of some relationship managers. Profit before tax in the Americas surged 47% year-on-year, though the number of advisors remained below the 2025 level.

Concerned about the risks to the Swiss economy in the unlikely event of a UBS collapse, the government has sought to make the bank ⁠hold around USD 20 billion in additional Common Equity Tier 1 capital, a move which the bank feels would damage it competitively. Lawmakers are expected to water down that requirement as they begin drafting the bill in August, as many fear requiring a permanent buffer of this scale could scare off UBS’ investors.

UBS’ integration of Credit Suisse will be completed by the end of the 2026-27 financial year. It made additional gross cost savings of USD 1.1 billion in Q2, bringing cumulative gross savings to USD 12.6 billion.

StanChart
Standard Chartered’s push for fee income powered the venture towards a forecast-beating H1 profit, with the bank lifting its full-year ‌income target after surges in wealth and global banking revenues, along with the steady credit charges tied to the Iran war.

StanChart has also announced a USD 1 billion share buyback and a 20.4 cent-per-share interim dividend. The London-headquartered lender, which earns most of its revenue in Asia and Africa, saw its pretax profit for the first six months reach USD 4.78 billion, up 9% from a year ago and ahead of a USD 4.52 billion analyst forecast.

The results acted as a crucial testimony for CEO Bill Winters’ strategy to grow fee income, earning more from wealth products and cross-border banking, at a time when geopolitical and regulatory uncertainties are creating clouds over investments and dealmaking.

StanChart’s wealth income soared 38%, driven by double-digit growth in investment products as inflows and the number of new accounts increased as Iran war-related market volatility drove up demand for wealth advice.

In H1, the lender’s cross-border and corporate banking revenue rose 19%, as large corporate clients turned to the bank to ⁠borrow money, issue debt and strike deals.

StanChart’s intra-Asia income surged in the first half, including a 20% increase in China-to-Hong Kong and 45% in China-to-ASEAN activities, backed by demand for transaction and markets business. The Middle East portfolio, which represents 6% of ⁠overall exposures, had remained broadly stable despite geopolitical volatilities.

It has set aside USD 190 million as precautionary management overlays in April against expected future losses.

How other big names fared
Britain’s Barclays reported a better-than-expected 17% rise in first-half profit. However, its equities’ performance undershot market expectations, while costs came in higher.

France’s BNP Paribas also beat forecasts with a 33% profit rise in the second quarter. Domestically focused retail lenders like Britain’s NatWest, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo and Spain’s CaixaBank have also reported steady quarters.

Dutch lender ING posted a net result of 1.95 billion euro, surpassing analyst expectations of 1.83 billion euro, ⁠due to a 14% rise in fee income to 1.28 billion euro. The United Kingdom-based Lloyds Banking Group also reported a better-than-expected statutory ‌pretax profit of 4.3 billion pounds for the H1 2026.

Trailing behind Uncle Sam
Despite the European banking sector’s sustained rally, the continent’s lenders have remained worth a fraction of their Wall Street rivals. While JPMorgan is closing in on a USD 1 trillion valuation, the figures for the likes of HSBC and Santander are at 266 ⁠billion pounds (USD 353 billion) and 180 billion euros (USD 205 billion), respectively.

Analysts have also flagged Europe’s heavy regulation and political resistance to cross-border consolidation as key constraining factors holding back the lenders’ growth. While some central bankers say such deals are needed for European banks to compete globally, UniCredit’s nearly two-year pursuit of Commerzbank serves as the best example of what experts feel.

Despite having very few signs of rising bad loans or provisioning, European lenders, in the long run, need to be cautious against the continent’s subdued ⁠economic growth, along with the Iran war-related fallouts.

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Annualised net new money growth in ⁠the first half of 2026 was 2.2%. However, progress on the profit front has continued to be affected by the implementation of the venture’s revised risk and compliance framework. Julius Baer even warned about the impact of the de-risking likely persisting into 2027.

“De-risking takes time,” CEO Stefan Bollinger said, adding the process targets different client types in high-risk countries or certain sensitive industries. However, he declined to quantify the phenomenon’s impact for next year.

While the Swiss bank’s net new money growth target has been set at 4%-5% by 2028, net profit for the first half of 2026 rose 128% to 673 million francs from 2025, when profits were hurt by loan loss ‌provisions.

“Julius ⁠Baer’s cost-income ratio will likely be below 67% for the second half of the year,” CFO Evie Kostakis told analysts.

“The bank foresees an increase in costs in the second half due to investments in the Swiss core banking platform, an efficiency programme and the hiring of new relationship managers,” the top official added further.

Julius Baer, while not answering analysts’ queries about resuming share buybacks, which hinge on an ongoing assessment by the Swiss regulator, gave some progress update following the completion of management ⁠changes.

“This moves in the right direction. We have now the second line in place, and so we’re feeling very good about our setup,” Bollinger told reporters.

Julius Baer will see the joining of Peter Burrill ⁠as its new chief financial officer in August, completing a top management overhaul that followed after the bank suffered heavy losses from risky lending.

Burrill will be joining from Standard Chartered after spending nine years in different senior finance roles. His most recent designation was the interim group CFO and a member of the group management team. Before that, he was group head of the British multinational giant’s central finance and deputy CFO, overseeing a broad transformation of the banking biggie’s finance function, spanning across its infrastructure, operating model, and international organisation.

Burrill’s appointment has been the most crucial one, as he will be facing a daunting task of charting Julius Baer’s long-term recovery path. The financial institute ended up inviting an enforcement assessment by Swiss financial market regulator FINMA over losses to collapsed ⁠Austrian property group Signa.

Signa’s downfall led to Julius Baer reporting a 25% decline in its 2025 net profit to 764 million Swiss francs (USD 981.3 million). The Swiss wealth manager also underwent net credit losses of 213 million Swiss francs, following large writedowns related to Signa’s bankruptcy.

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What DSC Holdings actually does
DSC Holdings, also known as DaSouChe, builds the software that used car dealers across China rely on to run their businesses. Its main product, called DaFengChe, digitalises everything from sourcing inventory and managing stock to marketing, sales and administration.

A second platform, Chehang 168, does something similar for brokers selling new cars. According to data from CIC, a Chinese research firm, DSC has held more than 90% of the market for used car dealer operating systems since 2021.

In practice, that means almost every used car dealer in the country is likely running on DSC’s technology somewhere in their workflow, alongside a wider network of inspectors, transporters and online platforms that plug into the same system.

What just happened on Nasdaq
DSC priced its initial public offering (IPO) at USD 17 per American depositary share, selling three million of them and raising around USD 51 million before fees. Each of those shares represents 20 ordinary shares of the company back in China.

The listing was led by Deutsche Bank alongside three other underwriters, and the shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker “DSC.” The company says it plans to use the money to expand its digital and AI tools and to fund general business growth.

What a “depositary bank” actually means
This is where Deutsche Bank’s separate, less flashy role comes in. Chinese companies cannot simply list their own shares directly on an American exchange. Instead, a bank creates a certificate called an American Depositary Receipt, or ADR, which represents those foreign shares and can be bought and sold in the United States like any ordinary stock.

Deutsche Bank has been appointed as the depositary bank for DSC’s ADR programme, meaning it is the institution responsible for issuing and administering those certificates, handling things like dividend payments and keeping the paperwork between the Chinese company and its American shareholders in order. It is a background job, but a necessary one for any Chinese company hoping to raise money from American investors.

Why this matters
DSC’s listing is a small deal by Wall Street standards, but it fits a wider pattern of Chinese technology companies, particularly ones with dominant positions in unglamorous, specific niches, continuing to test the American markets despite ongoing scrutiny of China-linked listings.

For a company that essentially runs the digital plumbing of an entire national industry, going public through the ADR route offers a way to raise capital in the world’s deepest financial market without having to change where its business actually operates.

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The results suggest that corporate America has regained confidence after two years of subdued mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity and a prolonged drought in initial public offerings (IPOs).

Companies returned to debt and equity markets during the quarter, while volatile financial markets generated strong client activity that boosted trading desks across Wall Street.

Collectively, the five banking giants earned close to USD 49 billion in quarterly profit, highlighting the strength of the industry’s recovery and providing a positive signal for the broader American economy.

Breaking down the numbers
JPMorgan Chase once again led the pack, reporting net income of USD 21.2 billion, or USD 16.9 billion excluding one-off items, on revenue of USD 57.4 billion. Investment banking fees jumped 45%, while equities trading revenue surged 86%, helping the bank post another record-breaking quarter.

A wave of big-ticket IPOs and dealmaking made the venture the highest gainer among the American banks. The investment banking division, now run by recently promoted executive Doug Petno, rode a sharp rebound in the American IPO market, led by the blockbuster market debut of Elon Musk’s SpaceX. JPMorgan was among the lead underwriters on the deal.

The ⁠bank has raised its forecast for 2026 expenses to USD 107.5 billion from USD 105 billion on the back of higher volume and revenue-related expenses. JPMorgan’s market value currently stands at more than USD 920 billion, very close to Wall Street’s elite trillion-dollar club.

One of the major talking points from JPMorgan’s earning report was the 30% yearly jump in its investment banking fees. The bank was part of several landmark transactions during Q2, including as co-adviser on NextEra Energy’s USD 67 billion merger with Dominion Energy, apart from being the lead active bookrunner on Alphabet’s USD 85 billion equity offering.

JPMorgan gained massively from the positive momentum seen in the global M&A activities, whose value, so far in 2026, has gone beyond USD 3 trillion, as per the Dealogic data. The bank’s equity trading revenue surged 86%, while fixed-income trading revenue increased 6%.

Bank of America also exceeded market expectations, reporting quarterly profit of USD 9.1 billion, up 27% from a year earlier, on revenue of USD 31.6 billion. The bank benefited from resilient consumer spending, higher investment banking fees, and solid trading income as clients remained active in financial markets.

The venture’s Q2 sales and trading revenue jumped 33% to a record USD 7.1 billion from USD 5.3 billion a year earlier, outpacing CEO Brian Moynihan’s expectations of a 15% rise. Equities revenue climbed 70% to USD 3.6 billion.

The bank reported a net income of USD 9.1 billion, or USD 1.21 per share, in the three months ended June 30, compared with USD 7.2 billion, or 90 cents per share, a year earlier. Shares of the bank, with about an 8% gain so far in 2026, have outperformed peers JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.

Just like JPMorgan, an upbeat global M&A ended up benefiting Bank of America as well. Its securities division acted as a joint book-running manager for the SpaceX IPO. Along with JPMorgan, the venture was also the financial advisor for NextEra Energy’s USD 66.8 billion deal to buy Dominion Energy. BofA’s total investment banking fees jumped 50% to USD 2.1 billion in the second quarter.

The bank’s net interest income (NII), the difference between what it earns on loans and pays out on deposits, rose 9% ⁠to USD 16 billion in the quarter from a year earlier. Average loans and leases rose 8% as well.

CFO Alastair Borthwick said that the positive forecast for full-year NII growth was supported by anticipated loan and deposit growth, fixed-rate asset repricing, and balance sheet optimization.

Citigroup delivered one of the strongest percentage increases among its peers. Quarterly profit rose 45% to USD 5.8 billion on revenue of USD 24.8 billion, driven by its strongest investment banking performance in several years and robust trading revenues.

Goldman Sachs, whose business is more heavily dependent on Wall Street activity than consumer banking, enjoyed one of the biggest earnings rebounds of the quarter.

Net income climbed 78% to USD 6.6 billion as a resurgence in M&A advisory work, equity underwriting, and market volatility fueled a sharp increase in investment banking and trading income.

Wells Fargo, traditionally more reliant on commercial and retail banking, also reported better-than-expected results. The bank posted a quarterly profit of USD 6.4 billion on revenue of USD 22.6 billion, with stronger commercial banking performance, improving credit quality, and higher fee income offsetting pressure on net interest income.

Analyzing things
After two years during which higher interest rates made net interest income the primary earnings driver, investment banking has once again taken center stage.

The recovery reflects a marked improvement in corporate confidence. Businesses that delayed acquisitions, public listings, and debt issuance during periods of economic uncertainty are returning to capital markets as financing conditions improve and expectations grow that the US Federal Reserve could begin easing monetary policy over the coming year.

At the same time, heightened volatility across equity, bond, and currency markets generated increased client activity, providing a significant boost to trading operations.

For Wall Street’s largest banks, this shift is important because it broadens earnings beyond traditional lending. While loan growth remains modest and deposit competition continues to pressure margins, stronger fee income from advisory work, underwriting, and trading offers a more diversified and sustainable source of profitability.

Another encouraging takeaway from the earnings was the resilience of the US consumer. Despite elevated borrowing costs and persistent inflation, household spending has remained healthy, and banks have not reported a significant deterioration in credit quality. Loan losses remain broadly contained, suggesting consumers continue to manage higher interest rates better than many economists had anticipated.

Technology companies are rushing to fund AI infrastructure, a trend that will further boost dealmaking and financing activities for Wall Street, generating lucrative fees ‌from capital raising and loans.

Goldman, which has already benefitted from its status of being the lead left underwriter on the SpaceX IPO, is all set to play a major role alongside Morgan Stanley in the upcoming listing of Anthropic. Citigroup, on the other hand, as a joint global co-ordinator on the SK Hynix sale, earned over USD 70 million from the deal.

BofA, since 2025, has helped raise nearly USD 500 billion for AI-related companies, accounting for 60% of such fundraising across investment-grade debt, while leveraging finance and equity capital markets.

Meta Platforms is working with Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase on a roughly USD 13 billion financing ⁠package for a data center in El Paso, Texas. As per JPMorgan’s Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum, the firm is seeing decent capital expenditure and loan demand from companies that may not be AI-related but have an indirect ⁠link.

Still, caution remains
Nevertheless, bank executives struck a cautious tone about the second half of the year. Uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe, and the trajectory of inflation could all influence corporate activity and financial markets in the months ahead. A slower pace of interest-rate cuts than currently anticipated could also affect borrowing demand and capital market activity.

Investors, meanwhile, responded cautiously despite the strong results. Analysts noted that many of the positive earnings drivers had already been priced into bank shares, while rising operating expenses and lofty valuations tempered enthusiasm. Even so, the first batch of earnings has delivered a strong opening to the reporting season.

Rather than relying solely on the benefits of higher interest rates, America’s biggest lenders are once again generating growth from the businesses that traditionally define Wall Street—advising companies on mergers, underwriting stock offerings, and helping investors navigate increasingly active financial markets.

Because the country’s largest banks sit at the center of corporate finance, consumer lending, and capital markets, their performance is widely regarded as an early indicator of economic momentum. Strong earnings across all five institutions suggest businesses are investing again, consumers remain willing to spend, and financial markets are regaining confidence.

If those trends continue through the second half of the year, Wall Street’s biggest banks may have done more than deliver impressive quarterly results – they may have provided the clearest indication yet that corporate America is entering a new phase of recovery, with investment banking, rather than interest rates, leading the way.

The post IF Insights: Wall Street’s investment banking rebounds on strong Q2 earnings appeared first on International Finance.

MPS is one of the world’s oldest banks, tracing its origins to 1472.

In December 2025, MPS completed the acquisition of Mediobanca, which controls part of insurance giant Generali, after months of bids and negotiations that involved Banco BPM and UniCredit. Apart from Intesa, Banco BPM too is interested in MPS.

The aim of Banco BPM, along with its principal shareholder French group Credit Agricole, is to create a major banking group capable of breaking the current de facto duopoly in the Italian market of Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit.

The great Italian banking opera
There are three actors in the theatre. First, we have Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest banking group by assets. It is also one of the biggest banks in the eurozone, serving around 14 million customers across Italy, while having an established international network spanning more than 25 countries. The lender has built a dominant retail and commercial banking franchise, apart from being a trusted name in wealth management, private banking, insurance and corporate banking.

By 2025-end, the group managed around €1.5 trillion in customer financial assets, including €562 billion in assets under management. Intesa, financially, has remained one of Europe’s strongest banks, reporting a record net profit of €9.3 billion last year, a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 13.9%, and a return on equity (ROE) of 18%, consolidating further its robust capital position, profitability, strong balance sheet, and diversified business model.

Formed in 2007 through the merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI, by 2025, the bank had secured the 40th rank in the Fortune Global 500, in terms of total assets. On Fortune 500 Europe, it is ranked 63rd currently, apart from being the 255th largest corporation.

The net profit of €9.3 billion made 2025 the best year in Intesa’s operational history, aided by tailwinds like record-high commissions, insurance income, best-in-class cost/income ratio, lowest-ever stock, and inflows of non-performing loans (with bad loans reset to near zero), strong capital growth, and significant value creation for stakeholders.

Along with acquiring MPS, the group is also eyeing to deliver €10 billion in net income in 2026.

On the other side, Banco BPM is Italy’s third-largest banking group, with total assets of around €206 billion as of early 2025. Formed through the 2017 merger of Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano, the venture operates 1,363 branches nationwide, with €129.1 billion in loans, and €109.9 billion in customer deposits at the end of 2025.

Banco BPM has repeatedly featured in merger speculation involving larger domestic and international lenders, apart from seeking greater scale through acquisitions and strategic combinations to strengthen its competitive position against larger rivals like Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit.

Where the bidding war stands now
In the first week of June, Intesa Sanpaolo put forward an ‘unsolicited’ cash-and-share offer worth €30.6 billion ($35 billion) for MPS, to checkmate Banco BPM’s merger of equals proposal for the venture. Intesa’s goal has been clear: to create the eurozone’s second-largest listed banking group by market value after Spain’s Banco Santander.

The combined group that will emerge after MPS’ assimilation into Intesa will have a market capitalisation of €126 billion, and a net income objective of €16 billion in 2029. To address potential anti-trust issues, Intesa has agreed with insurer Unipol to dispose of a banking business, including 635 MPS branches, or about half of the lender’s retail network, along with the MPS brand, should the acquisition succeed. The arrangement aims to retain MPS as a retail banking name.

Banco BPM, on the other hand, has approached MPS with the vision of creating a combined entity worth €50 billion ($58 billion). A merger between the two would end up creating Italy’s second-largest bank, ahead of UniCredit.

Intesa, meanwhile, in its bid proposal, has informed MPS about keeping Mediobanca and its brand, along with some 625 MPS branches and a limited portion of MPS central structures, together accounting for roughly 80% of MPS and Mediobanca’s 2025 net income.

As per Intesa, the merged group would hold about €1,700 billion in customer financial assets, including more than €250 billion from the retained MPS perimeter, apart from serving more than 27 million customers, with around 20 million of them being in Italy.

Banco BPM, outlining its own proposal, said the takeover would expand the strategic options linked to MPS’ holding in Assicurazioni Generali, and would result in a pro-forma CET1 ratio of around 15%, value creation of at least €5.5 billion, and earnings per share accretion of more than 10%.

Banco BPM became an investor in MPS in November 2024, when the Italian government completed reprivatisation of MPS, and brought in domestic investors as core shareholders.

Intesa’s game is much bigger here. By acquiring MPS, the venture wants to become Italy’s replica of UBS, strengthening its European leadership in wealth management and protection and advisory. Intesa’s wealth management and protection businesses generated 46%, or €12.54 billion, of the bank’s total revenue in 2025. A successful bid would create a combined entity with annual revenue of around €33 billion and profit of €11.3 billion.

All eyes on Rome
As per Intesa, the Italian government should assess any bid by BPM for BMPS under its ‘Golden Power’ legislation due to French banking giant Credit Agricole SA’s 22.9% stake in BPM, given that UniCredit SpA’s 2025 bid for BPM was blocked under the Giorgia Meloni regime.

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti has made his administration’s stance clear: to be a neutral party regarding merger and acquisition moves targeting MPS. He also said that a share placement through an accelerated bookbuilding procedure (ABB) would be ‘one of the best solutions’ to cut Italy’s residual 5% stake in MPS. As per him, whenever MPS’ takeover starts, the European country’s treasury would respond by selling its shareholding.

“Despite its neutrality, the government does not rule out setting conditions on the terms of any deal under golden power rules aimed at shielding strategic assets. Italy’s ⁠commitment is to divest its stake in MPS, but this step must be taken under the best market conditions to ensure that the investment made over time yields the maximum return,” the ⁠minister remarked.

The Meloni government currently owns 4.86% of MPS after rescuing the bank in 2017 through a costly bailout agreed with European Union authorities, and later returning it into private hands through three stake placements starting in late 2023.

In 2017, MPS almost collapsed due to years of mounting bad loans, weak profitability, and repeated capital shortfalls following the 2008 global financial crisis. The Italian government stepped in with a €5.4 billion recapitalisation under the European Union’s ‘precautionary recapitalisation’ framework, becoming the bank’s majority shareholder to prevent a disorderly failure.

The rescue came with strict restructuring conditions imposed by European authorities. MPS was required to dramatically reduce costs by cutting thousands of jobs, streamline its branch network, dispose of non-core assets, and aggressively clean up its balance sheet by selling billions of euros worth of non-performing loans, in order to become a leaner and financially stronger institution.

Italy’s treasury had to take ownership of 68% of MPS. It has since gradually reduced its holding through market placements as part of its commitment to re-privatise the bank under EU rules. There were more than 4,000 job cuts to streamline its operations, and significantly reduce its cost base. However, the real deal was the balance-sheet cleanup. MPS ended up transferring around €24 billion of gross non-performing loans (NPLs) in one of Europe’s largest bad-loan disposals, dramatically improving its asset quality.

Things changed for good in 2023, when MPS earned €1.95 billion in net profit, its highest in well over a decade. It followed the feat with a 41.2% year-on-year increase in Q1 2024 profit to €332.7 million. In the same timeframe, MPS reported a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 17.9%, well above regulatory minimums.

Since then, the venture has been displaying steady profitability, by rebuilding its capital position, apart from significantly improving the quality of its loan book. Both Banco and Intesa have been drawn to advantages like MPS’ extensive retail customer base, nationwide branch network, and strong deposit franchise, which provide stable funding and valuable cross-selling opportunities.

In Q1 2026, the venture’s lean operational model helped it to absorb rival Mediobanca and register 3% revenue growth. Mediobanca’s wealth management division was churning out net outflows of €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) during the quarter.

MPS, which has already started selling Mediobanca products and lowered costs by renegotiating some supply contracts, reported Q1 net profit of €521 million , beating the analysts’ expectations of €511 million. Revenue totalled €1.96 billion, against a forecast of €1.92 billion, with Mediobanca’s contribution at about €925 million.

Won’t be free of hurdles

A merger between MPS and Intesa/Banco would significantly increase market concentration in several Italian regions, particularly in retail banking, SME lending and deposits. Despite the government announcing that it would pursue a ‘neutral stance’, there is no guarantee that the regulators, be it in Rome or in the European Union (EU), won’t step in.

In that case, MPS’ suitor needs to sell branches, customer portfolios or business units in regions where the combined market share becomes excessive. Scenario tests will be done, which will assess situations like reduced competition, along with the chances of customers facing higher borrowing costs or fewer banking choices.

Expect resistance from the Italian labour unions, as bank mergers in the European country typically involve branch closures, IT integration, overlapping back-office functions, and massive job cuts.

An acquisition by Intesa, already Italy’s largest bank, may end up attracting much tougher anti-trust scrutiny than a bid from Banco BPM because the combined group would command an even larger share of Italian deposits, loans and branches. Banco still has an ace up its sleeve. It can tell the regulators that acquiring MPS would create a stronger challenger to Intesa, and other major Italian and European banks, while still preserving competition in the market.

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