Here's how much the top Wall Street banks have earned in fees this year

• Global M&A activity has reached record levels so far this year, but investment banking fees overall are down slightly.
• JPMorgan held the top spot for total investment banking fees in the first nine months of the year, with Goldman Sachs taking second place.

While M&A volumes are exploding in 2018, Wall Street dealmakers are still seeing a slight decline in overall fees.

Global M&A activity totaled $3.3 trillion in the first nine months of the year, which is up 37%, according to Refinitiv, which is the former Thomson Reuters Financial & Risk business.

Yet worldwide fees from investment banking were down 5%, reaching an estimated $76.6 billion during that time period.

That's because most bankers don't get paid until the deals they've worked on actually close which happens once the companies have achieved regulatory and shareholder approval for their transactions.

JPMorgan held the top spot for the total investment banking fees in the first nine months of the year, with Goldman Sachs taking the second spot.

Here's how the banks stacked up this time around.

JPMorgan tops the table for total investment banking fees.

JPMorgan has a 7.1% wallet share and $5.5 billion in fees during the first three quarters of 2018. It's followed closely by rival Goldman Sachs, with $4.7 billion and a 6.1 % share. Morgan Stanley climbed two positions to take the third place.

Goldman Sachs tops the table for M&A.

Fees from M&A have slowed slightly this year, standing at around $21.8 billion which is down 6% from a year ago.

And equity capital markets.

Goldman Sachs topped the charts equity capital markets too, ahead of Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan.

Total ECM fees are down 7%, dropping to $15.4 billion.

JPMorgan ranks number one in debt capital markets, ahead of Bank of America.

Debt capital markets activity has also dropped moderately. Industry-wide fees stand at $22.2 billion, which declined by 8% from a year ago.

JPMorgan ranked number one here ahead of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, generating $1.6 billion in fees.

And in loans Bank of America ranks first.

See also:

• The dealmaking boom of 2018 could shape up to be one of Wall Street's greatest years on record
• Mega-mergers are surging at a record pace - and history warns a market crash is looming
• JPMorgan's US M&A chief shares the secret sauce for getting deals to pop by flouting an old-school rule of dealmaking

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