Bankers like to work on record deals: the biggest merger and acquisition, the biggest debt offering, the biggest flotation. Equity capital markets have now just made their own record, although one not to be proud of: almost $70bn-worth in proposed global listings were delayed in the first nine months of the year, meaning that the value of postponed global initial public offerings has hit a new high.

According to Thomson Reuters Deals Insight, global postponed IPO activity hit $69.7bn during the year to the end of September, which was a 6% increase on the same period last year and a record high.