Banks have collected little more than one-third of the fees from advising on M&A transactions so far this year than they did in the same period last year, as a result of a deal freeze and the relatively low rewards on government bailout work.

According to Thomson Reuters and Freeman & Co, the global fee pot from deals which completed in the first two months of the year stands at $2.4bn (€1.9bn), 63% down on the $6.5bn received for the same period in 2008.