Asia bankers not reaping fees from region's M&As

Hong Kong

ASIAN investment bankers are watching the region's busiest deal spree on record, with upwards of a half trillion US dollars in acquisitions this year. But they still are not popping the champagne corks.

Cross-border deals accounted for 42 per cent of the region's deal volume till June, the lowest proportion since 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That is a setback for the bulge-bracket banks that can generate higher fees from these transactions, where their international networks are most valuable.