It is a good time to be an equity capital markets banker. After several years on the periphery, while credit ruled global financial markets, ECM departments at the big investment banks are humming again and nowhere more so than in the City and Canary Wharf.

Large and mid-cap companies have taken advantage of the lull in the credit crisis to raise fresh capital. And it is not just banks that have been tapping shareholders for cash. Media companies, support services groups and construction companies have all raised money in the past couple of weeks. In fact, the second quarter of 2008 is expected to see the biggest ever issuance of new equity for cash in the UK.