The fall in merger activity in the City has been attributed to the uncertainty of the EU referendum and the surprise result in the US presidential election

Mergers and acquisitions involving British companies have plummeted by more than 50 per cent this year after a string of global events including the Brexit vote sharply depressed dealmaking activity.

In the worst performance for three years, M&A deal volumes in Britain fell to $355 billion, a steep drop from $603 billion last year, according to data from Dealogic. In 2014 almost $390 billion of deals were agreed.

The subdued activity stood in stark contrast with many other parts of the world, where a flurry of dealmaking took place, particularly in the final quarter. Data from Thomson Reuters shows that $3.6 trillion of M&A deals were sealed around the world, the second highest total since 2007 but still some way off the record of $4.3