Wall Street Dealmakers Are Tired of Guessing When Comeback Will Arrive
- Banks see seventh quarter of declining investment-banking fees
- It remains ‘hard to predict’ when deals will rebound: Citi CEO
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Wall Street’s biggest banks have spent months trying to forecast when a dealmaking comeback will arrive. As the slump threatens to enter a third year, it can’t come soon enough.
The five banks collectively posted a seventh-straight quarter of declines in investment banking fees, matching the seven quarters of heightened mergers and acquisitions activity triggered amid a pandemic era of easy money. As those heady times ended, the banks delivered less than half the revenue over the last 12 months than they generated in a record-breaking 2021.