Last checked at 
* Global ECM levels more than halve to $106.6 bln - data
* IPOs down almost 70 pct to $12.1 bln - data
* Volatility, Brexit risk and U.S. election likely to crimpdeals
By Freya Berry and Elzio Barreto
LONDON/HONG KONG, April 1 (Reuters) - Worldwide share issuesslumped to a seven-year low in the first quarter of the year, asmarket volatility claimed the hopes of companies seeking to listtheir stock, Thomson Reuters data showed on Friday.
The value of total share sales, including secondary issuesas well as flotations, more than halved to $106.6 billion, thelowest since the immediate aftermath of the global financialcrisis at the beginning of 2009, the data showed.
Markets have been roiled by fears of slow economic growthglobally and the CBOE Market Volatility Index remainedstubbornly above 20 for much of this year, the level seen assafe for stock market hopefuls to attract investors.
That turbulence made it difficult for many would-be marketdebutants to persuade investors of the value of their shares.Money raised via flotations or initial public offerings (IPOs)slid by almost 70 percent to $12.1 billion.
"With the VIX above 20, price discovery is challenging,"said Gareth McCartney, head of EMEA equity syndicate at UBS."For much of the first quarter, as one investor put it, 'what'snot to worry about?'."
In turn, banks had a thin quarter for equity capital market(ECM) fees from advising on the sale of shares. JP Morgan led global ECM fee rankings, collecting $215.4 million,down more than two-fifths on last year, followed by MorganStanley and BofA Merrill Lynch.
The biggest riser was Haitong Securities, whichleapfrogged to number 10 from 48 having worked on the largestIPO of the year, that of China Zheshang Bank, whichraised HK$13 billion ($1.7 billion). That transaction helpedHong Kong become the world's most active stock exchange fordeals, followed by London and Tokyo.
For the first time since 2008, the New York Stock Exchangesaw no IPOs at all. That meant the United States crashed downthe rankings, with the amount raised plunging 92 percent on lastyear to leave it with a market share of only 3 percent against14 percent.
MORE LISTINGS
Of all three major regions, Asia Pacific suffered the leastfor IPOs with a 44 percent drop in money raised. And activitylooks set to continue in China, analysts and bankers said, sincea slew of policies aimed at bolstering the economy could helpunleash more listings.
"In the major market in China, they will keep promoting thestock market and try to improve the liquidity. That should helpenergize the market and the economy," said Ringo Choi,Asia-Pacific IPO leader at consulting firm EY.
Low oil prices had led some to expect a string of rightsissues as energy companies floundered. But while energy andpower accounted for two-fifths of global follow-on activity,mainly in the U.S. market, secondary share sales as a whole weredown 57 percent.
Energy deal levels were reduced by a mild rally in oilprices and creditors being unwilling to take over strugglingcompanies.
"It's been a tough market for people to generate returns,which has kept sentiment fairly low despite indices making somegood gains from the lows," said Tom Johnson, co-head of ECM forEMEA at Barclays.
"To a large degree it's been a commodity-driven rally andpeople haven't been on the right side of that trade."
Bankers had mixed feelings over the months ahead, as theyface continuing macroeconomic fears, the spectre of a possibleUK exit from the European Union, and the U.S. election.
That said, there are bright spots. Postal Savings Bank ofChina (PSBC) is seen raising up to $15 billion in one of theworld's largest stock market flotations this year, expected forthe second half of 2016, bankers have said.
And interest rates that remain at or near rock bottom,combined with quantitative easing in Europe, should still driveinvestors into equity deals.
"We are in a period of a cheap money and there's no obviousend in sight. That means generally good conditions for theequity markets," said Albert Ganyushin, head of internationallistings at Euronext. "Because for investors, what areyou going to invest in?"($1 = 7.7535 Hong Kong dollars) (Editing by David Holmes)
