In a stormy annual shareholders meeting at Bank of America Merrill Lynch that was dominated by criticism of’ the treatment of the bank's mortgage holders, the big winners appeared to be four of the bank's global banking and markets division who were singled out for praise by chief executive Brian Moynihan.

At the meeting in Charlotte yesterday, Moynihan pointed to the £3.5bn sale of Central Networks, the UK electricity distribution network, by German utility E.On to US utility PPL as an example of the bank's global capabilities in investment banking.