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Key takeaways

Despite global market turbulence and tariffs, U.S. investment banks have maintained their strong presence in Europe.The market share of U.S. banks reached 37 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, pointing to a steady growth trend since the 2008 financial crisis.Goldman Sachs has become the largest investment bank in the region, closely followed by JPMorgan and BNP Paribas.

Despite global market turbulence and President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, Wall Street investment banks maintained their dominant position in Europe in 2025. Contrary to expectations that EU clients would favor local lenders over American ones during the tariff disputes, U.S. banks continued to consolidate their position.

European banks losing ground

Although some European banks lost clients as a result of the tariff announcements, that loss did not lead to a significant change in their market share. An analysis of fee data and interviews with senior executives did show that European investment banks have lost ground to their Wall Street counterparts in some areas, such as equity offerings.

U.S. banks currently hold a 37 percent market share of investment banking fees in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, flat year-on-year and close to a record high of 40 percent. They retain a strong presence across all product segments, particularly in equity offerings and mergers, where they have increased their market share.

Change since the financial crisis

This reflects a steady erosion of European banks’ market share in favor of U.S. institutions since the 2008 financial crisis. While European players have faced restructurings and downsizing, U.S. banks have recovered quickly and expanded their operations. As a result, the U.S. share has risen from 31 percent in 2008 to 37 percent today.

Goldman Sachs has become the leading investment bank in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with a 6.8 percent share of all available fees. JPMorgan and BNP Paribas are close behind. Citi and Morgan Stanley are in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

While BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank saw their market share rise slightly compared to 2024, Barclays and HSBC suffered losses.

Domestic market

The dominance of U.S. banks is attributed to their ability to leverage the scale and profitability of their domestic market to succeed globally. They have particularly distinguished themselves in large-scale deals worth more than billions of dollars, especially in the technology, media and telecom sectors.

In mergers and acquisitions, the U.S. advantage is most apparent. In the third quarter of 2025, U.S. banks generated $2.4 billion (about €2 billion) in M&A fees, an increase in market share of 2.3 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024. European banks, by contrast, saw their M&A market share fall by 2.3 percentage points over this period. (fc)

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