Regulatory and economic difficulties took their toll on the private equity industry in the second quarter, when fundraising fell to its lowest amount in seven years, potentially dealing a blow to a number of big firms on the verge of returning to the markets in search of new money.

There was only $41.3bn (€33.5bn) raised in the second quarter of 2010 globally by private equity firms, according to data provider Preqin. This was the lowest amount gathered by firms since the fourth quarter of 2003, when $38bn was raised, after the fallout from the dotcom bust put fundraising on hold.