There has been a fine line between success and failure for equity capital markets teams in the first half. Winning a mandate on one of the larger rights issues by Royal Bank of Scotland or UBS spelled success, while the withdrawal of a deal such as the $3.1bn (€2bn) float by Danish state-owned oil and gas company Dong Energy meant disaster.

The biggest gainer in the European ECM league tables has been Morgan Stanley, which has shot up from eighth to top position with 13.5% of the market, according to Dealogic. As well as its strong position on European rights issues, it was also joint bookrunner on the $2.5bn flotation by Czech coal miner New World Resources with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Cazenove.