New life for M&A derivatives

Historically, successive waves of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity were welcomed by investment banks for one reason: the advisory and capital markets business they stood to gain. During the most recent wave of M&A, banks have been able to pocket up to 100 basis points per deal in advisory fees and up to 200bp for work related to capital-raising ahead of acquisitions. Over the past year, however, derivatives business has begun to make up an increasingly important part of banks' M&A-related