(by Mark Riley)

Recent research showed that banks’ revenue is not completely highlighted in banking league tables based upon value of deals.

It was proved that sometimes banks prefer unprofitable deals only to close to No.1 in the table. That makes figures in the table and real ones go apart. “You have to take league tables with a pinch of salt as to how accurate they are,” said Martin O’Donovan, technical officer at the Association of Corporate Treasurers.

Let’s go deeper into statistics. For instance, Deutsche Bank ranks fifth in terms of deals done but is seventh in terms of revenues. Another bank Lehman Brothers ranks fourth in terms of the value of equity but is No.9 for its revenues. UBS is better in terms of revenue (fourth) but eighth in deal value. Goldman Sachs is sixth in terms of revenue and ninth in deal value.