Lazard chief executive Ken Jacobs singled out Europe as a "bright spot"  over the next year or two, after both his firm and fellow US independent investment bank Evercore continued their flying start to 2017 in the second quarter.

Lazard said today that revenues surged by a third to an outright quarterly high of $720m in the second quarter, as soaring advisory fees helped the firm continue its strong start to the year, when it set a first quarter record.