Equity capital markets: after the flood

The crisis has been excellent for one part of the investment banking business - equity capital markets. Global share sales in 2009 totalled $889 billion, not far from the $1.03 trillion record in 2007 and enough to hand the top ten underwriters a fee pool of around $12.6 billion. Bankers may well keep the champagne flowing in 2010. Tough new rules from banking regulators will force banks and insurers to raise more capital. In Europe, the Italian UniCredit, the Dutch ING and the Austrian Erste B...