Investment banking fee income falls to lowest since 2009

BANKING-FEES:Investment banking fee income falls to lowest since 2009

Global investment banking fees in the third quarter fell to their lowest since early 2009, according to data from Thomson Reuters and Freeman Consulting, as the euro zone debt crisis continued to unsettle markets and disrupt deal activity.

Europe has been particularly hard hit by the slowdown in deals, with investment banking fees in the region so far in 2012 falling to levels not seen in ten years.

Globally, the drop has been driven by a fall in share sale activity, with equity capital markets fees tumbling 31 percent to $9.6 billion so far this year, the slowest period since 2003.

 

Debt financing is the only area which has seen an increase in fees this year, up 14 percent on the first nine months of 2011, the data showed on Friday.

Total fee income in the three months to the end of September was 3.8 percent down on the third quarter of last year, with mergers and acquisitions deals making up the biggest chunk - accounting for 34 percent of the $15.5 billion earned.

The planned merger of commodities trader Glencore and mining group Xstrata , the year's biggest pending deal in terms of total fees, could provide a further boost, with banks expecting to collect a total of $114 million in advisory fees if the deal is completed.

JP Morgan retained its top spot in the global investment banking fee league table, earning $3.6 billion so far this year. Bank of America Merrill Lynch was in second place, bringing in $3 billion, followed by Goldman Sachs in third on $2.7 billion.