The global underwriting business slumped a bit in the first half of 2010, according to the latest data from Thomson Reuters.

Thomson Reuters reports that equity capital markets underwriting activity totalled US$314.5 billion during the first half of 2010, a 7% decrease from the first half of 2009. The second quarter was notably weaker, coming in as the slowest three-month period for global equity capital markets activity, by volume and proceeds, since the first quarter of 2009.

At the same time, Thomson Reuters reports that overall global debt capital markets activity was down 23% in the first half, totaling US$2.6 trillion, down from last year when volume reached US$3.3 trillion. Again, the second quarter was particularly weak, as debt market activity fell 40% from the first quarter of 2010, registering the first sub-trillion dollar quarter since the fourth quarter of 2008.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch led the overall underwriting league tables (debt and equity) for the first half, up from fourth place in the first half of 2009. J.P. Morgan, last year’s number one firm, ranked second, and Barclays Capital was third. Among Canadian firms, RBC Capital Markets climbed up to 16th spot from 19th, and TD Securities ranked 20th, up from 26th place last year.

Looking solely at global equities, J.P. Morgan remained the top underwriter, followed by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. No Canadian firm made the top 20.

On the global debt side, Barclays was the top underwriter in the first half, up from second spot last year. Merrill climbed to second place from third, and J.P. Morgan slipped from first to third. RBC ranked 13th, up from 16th; and TD was 20th, up from 27th.

Despite the overall declines in activity, there were some bright spots. While the equity business slump was led by a weakness in secondary offerings, global IPO volume was actually up significantly to US$93.9 billion, compared with the first half of 2009 when IPO issuance totaled just US$13 billion. Thomson Reuters notes that emerging market IPOs have raised US$49 billion this year, more than half of the global IPO volume. Morgan Stanley was the leading IPO underwriter, followed by J.P. Morgan and Goldman.

On the debt side, high yield debt had a record half, as the volume of global corporate high yield debt reached US$130.7 billion, more than double the level seen during first half of 2009, and a new record for semi-annual corporate high yield debt issuance, according to Thomson Reuters. New issuance of asset-backed and mortgage-backed securitizations also revived in the first half.

IE