The stalemate between the US/Israel and Iran continues to drag on since Donald Trump pressed the button on Operation Epic Fury in late February, with no sign of respite despite repeated false dawns indicating imminent resolution.

The picture stands in marked contrast to the fortunes of bankers, for whom business has been booming over the first five months of 2026. Fees are up almost 20% year-on-year (YoY) to USD 48bn, with banks enjoying increased returns from three of the four product streams tracked by Dealogic – mergers and acquisitions (M&A); equity capital markets (ECM); and bonds, also known as debt capital markets (DCM). Only the loans segment has seen revenues decline from the same period last year. In fact, all three regions under coverage – the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific – have contributed to a spike in investment bank (IB) fees.

The same five names toasted the first five months of the year that did in 5M25: JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities and Citi. These top-five titans bagged a total of USD 16.5bn of the global revenue pot, as their market share ticked up to almost 35% from a little under 32% over the same period last year. New York-headquartered Evercore and Ontario-headquartered RBC Capital Markets ousted Europe’s Deutsche Bank and UBS from among the global top 10 revenue earners.

Americas: IB fees unaffected by wars

Banks servicing the Americas pocketed almost USD 30bn in fees, up from USD 23bn in 5M25, swallowing a greater chunk of the global pie compared with last year. Almost 42% of all fees came from M&A, as technology and healthcare deals netted huge earnings hauls; revenues from ECM almost doubled on healthcare and energy transactions across IPOs, follow-ons and converts; fixed-income (FI) fees saw a mixed basket, with revenues from DCM rising, while fees from loans dipped, but only by USD 200m.

M&A

• Revenues climbed 29% YoY to USD 12.4bn, as tech and healthcare deals stole the show.
• Fees from the next three-largest sectors – financial institutions, energy and industrials – each generated more than USD 1bn.
• The trio of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley were unsurpassed from 5M25, with the top two names earning more than USD 1bn apiece.
• Barclays pushed out Qatalyst Partners from the elite top 10.

ECM

• Fees from ECM jumped a hefty 109% YoY to USD 5.2bn, as markets defied geopolitical events and surged.
• All three segments recorded rises. Revenues from follow-ons reached USD 2.5bn from USD 1.4m in 5M25; IPOs tripled to USD 1.8bn from around USD 600m; and convertible bond offerings (converts) almost doubled to USD 900m in 5M26 from USD 500m.
• Healthcare (28%), energy (20%), and tech (18%) were the highest contributors to ECM fees.
• JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley remained in the gold, silver and bronze places, respectively, while Jefferies jumped to fourth from eighth in 5M25.
• Wells Fargo ousted Cantor Fitzgerald & Co from the top 10, while Guggenheim Partners slid into the top 20, replacing Raymond James & Associates.

Fixed income

• Fees from FI grew 11% YoY to about USD 11.8bn.
• Within FI, earnings from bonds/DCM gained 22% to USD 7.5bn, mostly thanks to corporate borrowers. Fees from loans decreased 5% to USD 4.3bn, as fewer leveraged issuers hit debt markets.
• Financial institutions (35%) and technology (18%) made up the largest contributors to bond fees, while industrials (19%) and energy (19%) were the most active sectors for loans income.
• JPMorgan and BofA Securities retained their long-term FI crowns, placing first and second, respectively, for both bonds and loans, and also a combination of the two.
• For bond fee winners, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank replaced TD Securities and Mizuho to break into the top 10.
• In the loans rankings, BNP Paribas replaced Citizens Financial in the top 20.

EMEA: IBs gather steam, powered by surging equity and debt markets 

Five months into the year, and despite logistics woes and supply-chain disruptions created by ongoing military conflicts, European bankers have netted more than USD 10bn in fees. In fact, revenues at USD 10.9bn were up for the third consecutive year from USD 10.4bn in 5M25.

While fees from loans declined to USD 1.1bn, M&A was almost flat at USD 4.4bn and bond markets saw a modest 8% uptick to USD 4.3bn. The real jump came from ECM fees, which rocketed 41% YoY, as corporates, follow-ons and converts picked up the pace.

M&A

• Revenues from M&A fell 1% YoY to USD 4.4bn, as fees from the top three revenue-generating countries – the UK, France and Germany – continued to wane.
• Fees from financial institutions, technology and industrials contributed to more than 50% of the total.
• American banks JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs held steady in first and second place, albeit reversing position from 5M25, while BofA Securities landed third. Regional banks on the elite list included Rothschild at fourth, UBS at ninth and Barclays at tenth.
• There were several new entrants among the top 20, with Centerview Partners and RBC Capital Markets celebrating the biggest revenue jumps YoY.

ECM

• Fees from ECM accelerated to USD 1bn from USD 744m in 5M25, marking the highest five-month period since 5M21.
• Revenue from follow-ons swelled 47% YoY to USD 680m, as Greece broke new ground and made headlines, setting the pace for fees generated. Fees from IPOs dipped a nominal 1% to USD 250m, while the biggest rise came from converts, which saw an eye-watering 300% hike to USD 120m, as the Netherlands, Switzerland and Monaco all saw corporates hit ECM markets.
• Financial institutions (22%), energy and natural resources (22%), and industrials (20%) were the lead contributors to ECM fees.
• American banks continued to dominate the top-five fee earners list.
• New faces among the top 20 included Milan-based UniCredit, which moved up to ninth from 28th in 5M25, and London-based Investec, which climbed into fifteenth from 173rd place in 5M25.

Fixed income

• Revenues from FI edged up to USD 5.4bn from USD 5.2bn YoY.
• Fees from bonds/DCM were down to USD 4.3bn, with investment-grade (IG) corporate borrowers accounting for almost 50% of revenues.
• Fees from loans decreased 9% YoY to USD 1.1bn, as 34% fewer corporates hit debt markets than in 5M25.
• Financial institutions were the single largest contributor to bond fees, making up almost 63% of the pot.
• Industrials (22%), financial institutions (15%), and consumer & retail (15%) were the largest contributors to loan fees, ousting healthcare and industrials.
• BNP Paribas and JPMorgan, long-time veterans, earned the most from bond fees. Morgan Stanley was the only new name in the top 10 list, arriving in place of SG Corporate & Investment Banking.
• While BNP Paribas also dominated earnings from loans, BofA Securities slipped into second from seventh in 5M25, displacing JPMorgan. New loan-fee winners among the top 10 were SG Corporate & Investment Banking, UBS, and Natixis, replacing HSBC, Credit Agricole and Morgan Stanley.

Asia-Pacific: IBs enjoy strong start to 2026 

Bankers are off to a buoyant start this year, pulling in USD 7.2bn in fees by the five-month mark, up 12% from 5M25, with China and Japan claiming their biggest share of the revenue pool in five years. Over half of total fees came from financial institutions and industrials. M&A revenues reached their third-highest total, powered by Japan’s all-time peak in deal fees. Over 57% of total earnings came from ECM, as converts grew nearly threefold on strong industrials and tech deal activity. Fees from bonds rose about 15%, while loans dropped as fewer corporates tapped debt markets.

M&A

• Fees retreated 6% YoY to USD 1.6bn in 5M26, albeit still the third-highest tally on record.
• Singapore joined Japan, China, Australia and India as a top-five fee generator, replacing South Korea. Japan posted record revenues, claiming a 40% regional share – its highest since 5M09 – driven by shareholder activism and corporate restructuring.
• Industrials (21%), technology (16%), and financials (15%) were the largest contributors to fees.
• US banks Morgan Stanley, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Nomura were the top-five fee earners, with Citi and Nomura replacing UBS and BofA in the top five.
• Tokyo-based Yamada Consulting saw fees balloon 222% YoY to enter the top 20 from 52nd place in 5M25, with 44% of deals derived from industrials.

ECM 

• Fees from ECM increased to USD 2.2bn in 5M26 from USD 1.5bn in 5M25.
• Revenues from follow-ons up jumped 52% to USD 960m, the highest figure in five years, while IPOs rose for the third consecutive year to USD 820m. Converts saw the biggest YoY gain, spiking 184% to USD 380m, the highest level in 22 years, as Japanese corporates accounted for more than half of revenues.
• Technology (31%) and industrials (27%) were the largest contributors to fees.
• Japan’s Nomura and China’s CICC joined the top-five fee earners, moving up in place of JPMorgan and Daiwa/DC Advisory.
• Nomura jumped six places to rank first, posting a 192% YoY bounce, while CICC climbed eight spots to take the runners-up spot, surging 187% from 5M25.

Fixed income

• Fees from FI endured a nominal rise to USD 3.5bn from USD 3.3bn.
• Fees from bonds/DCM increased 9% YoY to USD 3.2bn.
• Fees from loans shed 15% YoY to USD 300m.
• Financial institutions were by far the largest contributor to bond fees, representing almost half the amount.
• Similarly, financial institutions (20%) and consumer & retail (18%) were the largest contributors to loan fees, superseding financial institutions and industrials.
• For bond fees, CITIC Securities and Guotai Haitong Securities switched spots from 5M25 to earn a gold and silver, respectively. GF Securities squeezed into the elite top 10 in place of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial.
• For loan fees, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFG (MUFG), and Mizuho took the crowns, playing musical chairs from 5M25.

*Dealogic Revenue Data: Dealogic uses a proprietary revenue model to estimate investment banking fees across four key products: M&A, equity capital markets (ECM), bonds or debt capital markets (DCM), and loans. Revenues derived from any geography/sector indicate fees generated by fee-payers based in that geography/sector. M&A fees are calculated 10% upon announcement and 90% upon completion.