Okay, so the global M&A thing is definitely not going too well. Total issuance of syndicated loans has now dropped 47% so far this year, while debt and equity issuance has fallen 35% and 36%, respectively (that final stat marking the worst sort of tanking taken since 1984). And yet U.K. equity issuance is having an absolute banner year. What’s the story?

Global merger and acquisition volumes have fallen 32pc this year and more stock market flotations have been pulled than in the whole of 2007 as market activity has dried up in the credit crunch, data from Thomson Reuters shows.

Spelling further woe for the banking industry, issuance of syndicated loans has dropped 47pc so far this year while debt and equity issuance has fallen 35pc and 36pc respectively.

The marked collapse in demand for banking services underlines concerns about job cuts in financial services.

Leon Saunders Calvert, research director at Thomson Reuters, said: "We're hearing that bankers are being laid off, and not just in the structured finance areas that were directly hit by the credit crunch. That would certainly seem to fit the volumes that we're seeing."

Since August, tens of thousands of jobs have been cut or are scheduled to be cut at the largest investment banks across the City and in New York.

Mr Saunders Calvert said the data underscored how badly the industry is being hit. He said: "Global equity issuance totalled $350bn (£194bn) year-to-date, a 36pc decrease from the same time last year. The last time year-over-year volume fell so drastically was in 1984."

Despite the global trends, UK equity issuance is headed for a record year, according to separate research from Morgan Stanley, due to the £18bn of rights issues already completed. However, demand for UK stock is expected to hit a "six-year low.... due to falling M&A, and lower buybacks and dividends".

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