Client industry · November 2026
Banks & Financial Institutions: who advises the sector
Dated deals for banks & financial institutions clients over the last 12 months, the practices and firms behind them, and how lawyers with this focus moved.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 3,433
- Dated deals, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +7.2%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- $660m
- Median disclosed value
- 1,314
- Distinct clients
What the data show
From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 3,433 dated deals for Banks & Financial Institutions clients. Measured on settled 12-month windows, 3,457 deals against 3,224 the year before, the deal count rose 7.2%. The deal market as a whole moved +10.6% over the same windows.
By practice, Capital Markets is involved in 51.0% of these deals and Banking & Finance in 15.8%. By deal type, Capital markets is involved in 48.8% of these deals and Disputes & investigations in 14.6%.
Deal value was disclosed on 24.1% of them; where disclosed, the median was $660 million. 1,314 distinct clients appear across the window.
First among advising firms is Davis Polk & Wardwell, with deals in the 151-250 band.
Lawyers whose work centers on Banks & Financial Institutions changed firm 951 times in the same window. Partners were 44.7% of those moves, against 27.7% across the lateral market. Year on year those moves changed +1.5%.
For a company in Banks & Financial Institutions, the adviser table shows where sector experience sits, which is where an in-house hire is most likely to come from.
Firms by rank and band
Each firm appears as a rank and a band, never an exact count, and only with at least 10 moves in the window.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 151-250 |
| 2 | A&O Shearman | 151-250 |
| 3 | Clifford Chance | 151-250 |
| 4 | Linklaters | 151-250 |
| 5 | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | 101-150 |
| 6 | Jones Day | 101-150 |
| 7 | White & Case | 101-150 |
| 8 | Sidley Austin | 101-150 |
| 9 | Mayer Brown | 61-100 |
| 10 | Sullivan & Cromwell | 61-100 |
Related monitors and reports
Deal types
Other industries
- Financial Sponsors
- Technology & Software
- Pharma & Biotech
- Asset Management & Funds
- Real Estate
- Power & Renewables
- Consumer Goods & Retail
- Food, Beverage & Agriculture
- Healthcare Providers & Payors
- Oil & Gas
- Industrial Manufacturing
- Media & Entertainment
- Utilities, Water & Waste
- Government & Public Sector
- Automotive
- Insurance
- Electronics & Semiconductors
- Medical Devices
- Mining & Metals
- Individuals & Consumers
- Hospitality & Leisure
- Aerospace & Defence
- Infrastructure
- Construction & Engineering
- Professional Services
- Fintech & Payments
- Telecommunications
- Transportation & Logistics
- Chemicals
- Sports
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- Education
Up one level
Working with us
Reports
- Bank Outside Counsel in 2026: A Four-Way Top and Transatlantic Work
No single firm owns bank work: the four most active advisers sit in one band, and four of the ten cities where bank deals were handled are in Europe. Capital markets and lending are 56.5% of the deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hiring a Bank Lawyer In-House: 67.0% of the Bench Is Finance
Finance lawyers make up 67.0% of the bank-focused lawyers who changed firms, an index of 481 against the market, with regulatory and restructuring the next pools. Moves were flat and most joined firms of 1,000+ lawyers: a bank's in-house hire comes from big-firm finance groups.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026
Edition November 2026. Window: November 2025 to October 2026. Source: Sartori & Partners, from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly. Methodology. Spot an error? [email protected].
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