Big banks earned billions of dollars in fees setting up so-called blank-check companies in 2020, highlighting how booming capital markets are helping Wall Street weather the coronavirus.

US-listed special-purpose acquisition companies, or Spacs, raised $82bn in 2020, a more-than-sixfold increase from the year before and a figure greater than all of the money previously raised, according to Dealogic. They even attracted a star-studded group of backers, ranging from basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal to former House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan.