Bear Stearns ranks third among prime brokers globally in a survey to be released today, suggesting the business had not suffered as much damage as many believed in the months leading up to the investment bank's collapse.

The 2008 Global Custodian prime brokerage survey, the most closely watched in the industry, polled 2,800 customers of 25 prime brokers and asks them to rank the brokers across 55 areas, including operations, liquidity, technology and capital introductions. The poll was conducted between November last year and January this year.