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JP Morgan tops fees for 15th straight year

 | Updated:  |  Christopher Spink

JP Morgan has retained its crown as the biggest gleaner of investment banking fees for the 15th successive year and was the only one of the top five US banks to increase its market share in 2023, allowing it to stretch its dominant position over rivals.

The bank has topped the annual rankings for investment banking fees every year since 2009.

Its fees from M&A advisory, debt and equity underwriting and syndicate loans during 2023 were US$7.17bn, down a modest 2.6% from the year before, according to LSEG data. That kept it well above nearest rival Goldman Sachs, whose fees fell 16% to US$5.82bn (See P&M front page story).

The big US banks continued to hold the top five positions, with Bank of America in third, Morgan Stanley in fourth and Citigroup in fifth.

Barclays replaced UBS as the sixth most active bank, increasing its market share by 12bp. Barclays' fees for 2023 fell a modest 3.2% to US$2.9bn. UBS’, which included Credit Suisse’s following its rescue in March, were US$2.18bn, down 38% on a pro forma basis accounting for both banks, LSEG data showed.

A major winner was BNP Paribas, which rose three places in the global rankings to ninth as fees rose 9.2% to US$1.98bn. It was also the second most active investment bank in Europe, the Middle East and Africa after JP Morgan.

BNPP ended a whisker ahead of Mizuho, which also gained significant ground over rivals. The Japanese firm rose by four places to 10th as its fees increased by 16% to US$1.97bn. They were the only two banks in the top 10 to see their fees increase in 2023.

A notable decliner was Deutsche Bank, which slipped four places to 14th as its fees fell 6.8% to US$1.75bn. This was despite the bank acting on 4.5% more transactions than last year, or 3,881 deals in all.