While the likes of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain are traditional sources of winter sun for investment bankers, the region dubbed “Club Med” is also likely to provide a surge of equity capital markets volumes this year.

According to data provider Dealogic, ECM issuance from companies in Spain and Greece hit record levels between January 1 and February 8. For the same period, activity across Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain stood at $4.4bn, the second highest figure on record. This represents close to 30% of all European ECM activity for the period - a massive increase compared with a 16% average between 2005 and 2010.