Notwithstanding the recent credit ructions, 2007 has been a good year for the banks. The global fee pool is up by more than a quarter so far on last year, according to Thomson Financial, and already stands about $10bn higher than the total goods on offer for the whole of 2004.
But narrow the focus to the Bric nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – and the fees up for grabs have risen by almost 73 per cent this year to more than $5bn, rivalling last year’s total haul and more than double the fees available in 2004.
In the grand scheme of things, these countries are still minnows. Their fee pot is 7.1 per cent of the global total this year to date, up from 5.2 per cent in the same period last year.
The largest pot of cash coming from the Brics is from our old friend China – and funnily enough, the largest generator of money for the banks in these countries is, yes you guessed it, ECM.
UBS tops the table overall, helped by its strong presence in Asia and its success in bagging spots on Chinese listings – but each of the top five, which is rounded out by Citi, Morgan Stanley, Goldman and Credit Suisse, earned over half their haul in the equity markets.
A relief then that on Friday, with the FTSE 100 down 3 per cent odd and the US open looking decidedly stomach-churning, Shanghai barely blinked losing just 0.1 per cent. Presumably that means ICBC’s spot among the world’s largest companies is safe for now the.