Investment banks’ fee income falls 25%

LONDON: Global investment banks' fee income dropped by about 25% in the second quarter, reaching its lowest level since early 2009 as the widening eurozone crisis weighed on securities underwriting and merger activity, Thomson Reuters data show.

The fees totalled nearly US$14bil in the second quarter, down from more than US$18bil in the first quarter of 2012. Year to date, fees have totalled US$32bil, down 25% from the same period in 2011. - Reuters