Morgan Stanley's last-minute reappointment as a defence adviser to Hungarian oil company Mol has pushed the US bank to the top of a European mergers and acquisitions league table above rival UBS, the company's other adviser.

Morgan Stanley was late on Friday rehired by Mol as an adviser on its defence against a hostile €14bn ($19.7bn) bid from Austrian rival OMV, giving the US bank the deal credit it needed to take first place in the third quarter M&A advisory rankings published by investment banking data provider Thomson Financial.