Investment banking fees earned from European debt market work overtook those earned from mergers and acquisitions advisory work for the first quarter on record, as debt issuance soared and M&A flopped in the opening months of this year, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

Fees from debt underwriting accounted for 41% of the European fee pool in the first quarter of 2012, the highest quarterly share since Thomson Reuters' records began in 2000. The overall size of the European fee pool totalled €3.9bn in the first quarter of 2012, accounting for 24% of fees globally. The overall size of the European fee pool had been €5.2bn for the first quarter of 2011.