Goldman tops JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley in 2012 commodities' revenue

REUTERS - Investment bank Goldman Sachs grabbed the top spot for commodities trading revenue in 2012 in a year when lower market volatility and tighter regulation crimped trading profits .

The research report released on Thursday by London-based industry analytics firm Coalition showed Goldman's commodity revenue beat JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley , which ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in 2012.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays were the two strongest performers in generating commodities revenue year-on-year in 2012, Coalition said.

The report highlights how global investment banks fared in a particularly difficult year as clients' trading activity in commodities shrank on increasing concerns of regulation and capital requirement following the collapse of MF Global.

Commodity trading revenues at leading Wall Street firms crashed last year to their lowest on record as limited price swings in markets squeezed the once dominant traders of Goldman, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley.

In February, Coalition said that revenue from commodities trading at global investment banks fell by a quarter last year from 2011, making the asset class the worst performer in the fixed-income business of banks.

A Coalition spokeswoman said the firm will release another report on Friday to show the product-by-product revenue breakdown of banks in 2011. (Reporting by Frank Tang)