The investment banking industry has shrugged off the financial crisis of the past three years, and staged a remarkable recovery that has seen it return to just 15% below the record levels of 2007, according to analysis by Financial News.

Revenues across the industry in the first half of 2010 were down less than 15% compared with the same period in the first half of 2007, the zenith of the investment banking industry before the crisis hit later that summer, and pre-tax profits are less than 11% down. While as many as one in five staff at investment banks have lost their jobs, and pay has fallen by about one third, the industry has become more concentrated and more efficient, producing higher margins and a higher return on assets than before the crisis.