Investment banking fees surged 50 per cent to US$4.08 billion on the mainland last year, buoyed by record share issuances in the world's biggest market for public listings.
The equity markets accounted for 58.5 per cent of banks' earnings, with fees earned from advising on mergers and acquisitions making up most of the rest, according to data from Thomson Financial.
Swiss bank UBS topped the investment bank rankings with earnings of US$257.6 million from 33 deals, almost exclusively from underwriting share issuances, followed by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
Mainland lenders took four of the top 10 spots, led by China International Capital Corp and China Citic Securities, but are increasingly feeling the pressure from global banking giants as Beijing opens the securities industry to foreign competition.
The total value of equity issued last year reached US$117.7 billion, the second-highest value worldwide after the United States.
Thomson's figures reaffirmed Shanghai's position as the world's top initial public offering exchange, beating London and Hong Kong with proceeds worth US$55.3 billion as the city played host to four of the largest A-share offerings on record. Petrochina's US$8.93 billion offering and China Shenhua's US$8.87 billion issue were the two largest A-share offerings ever, dwarfing the US$4.8 billion listing of private equity group Blackstone, the largest offering on the New York Stock Exchange.
