Bank of America and BNP Paribas Exane tied for the top spot in a closely-watched ranking of research analysts in Europe as buy-side budgets remain constrained and the UK government starts to unwinding regulation that has hit the sector hard.

The two banks shared first place in Institutional Investor's annual ranking of equity research analysts in Western Europe, after Bank of America leapfrogged the French lender's broking business for the lead last year. JPMorgan retained its third place, with UBS in fourth place while Barclays moved up a spot to fifth in the league table.