Barclays has topped the UK investment banking league tables for the first time in six years, leapfrogging Wall Street rivals as fees continued to fall in Europe’s biggest market.
The UK lender brought in $279m in fees last year, according to newly-released numbers by data provider Dealogic, jumping ahead of JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. The last time Barclays did this was in 2017.
Goldman and JPMorgan battled for the top spot in the UK investment banking fee pool over the five years in between, with Barclays taking third position over that period.
The UK fee pool dropped a further 8% last year to $3.5bn, holding up better than dealmaking activity globally despite an ongoing drought in new listings, the data shows. In 2022, revenue from UK investment banking had tumbled 42% from $6.7bn a year earlier — the steepest decline of any country in Europe.
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Barclays’ rise to the top position comes as both M&A and equity capital markets activity stalled last year. The UK lender’s dominance in debt underwriting, which accounted for around 50% of its fees in the UK, helped propel it above its Wall Street rivals.
The UK is the biggest dealmaking fee pool in Europe, accounting for around a third of revenue in the region. It is a fiercely competitive market, and 2023 saw banks including BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and UBS make fresh pushes to gain market share, Financial News reported previously.
After its £410m acquisition of City broker Numis last year, Deutsche Bank is targeting the top spot in the UK, executives told FN. Meanwhile, UBS has brought across around 20 Credit Suisse bankers for its UK dealmaking team and is looking to gain on rivals as a result.
However, London listings hit a 20-year low last year, and the UK government has looked to breathe new life into its capital markets through a series of working groups and initiatives. Proposals have included those in the Chancellor’s Mansion House speech last year and the Edinburgh Reforms, announced in December 2022, as well as numerous working groups.
JPMorgan has maintained its first place across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, remaining ahead of Goldman Sachs in second place. Citigroup has regained its third position in the region, up from sixth a year earlier, as the Wall Street bank guns for the top spot over the next two years.
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