Footballers fight hard all season to get their team to the top of their league. Equities bankers also keep a keen eye on their league tables – a battle growing more intense as new competitors try to muscle in on traditional leading teams.

That increasing competition is producing debate in two areas. First, the issue of titles, and which banks should take precedence in claiming credit for a deal. That is leading to conflict in a second area: do league tables that reflect the fees banks earn better reflect banks' respective merits? Or is the value of deals they work on - regardless of how much they get paid - a better guide.