Morgan Stanley led its first flotation on the Alternative Investment Market last week, highlighting the growing interest by the bulge-bracket banks in London's smaller companies segment. Frontera Resources, a gas and oil exploration company that operates in Georgia, raised £42m (€60m).

Five of the big investment banks have registered as nominated advisers for AIM in the past year. The registrations indicate that banks are positioning themselves to take advantage of the fast-growing market, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in June.