You may or may not be surprised to hear that global investment banking revenues are more or less flat for the year to date compared to the same period last year, according to Dealogic data. But here’s a quick quiz question for you: in which regions have revenues fallen?

I'll give you a clue. It wasn't Australasia, where revenues grew by over 31%. So, how about the US, which is still shrugging off the effects of the sub-prime crisis and may well be forced into a second credit crunch by the partisan wranglings of its politicians? Actually investment banking revenues from North America have climbed by 6.2%. Maybe Europe, which has been riven by a sovereign debt crisis that threatens the very existence of the eurozone? Er, nope. Revenues in Europe are up 2.4%.