Following a frenetic first half of the year, Q3 saw subdued M&A activity as growing geopolitical tensions, trade wars and protectionism dampened spirits and caused corporates to pause over the Northern summer, noted Mergermarket in its 3Q 2108 report.On the financial advisor league table by value, the top advisers globally for the year to date, by value of the deals they are involved in are (in descending order from highest deal value): Goldman Sachs; Morgan Stanley; JPMorgan; Citi; Bank of America Merrill Lynch.A total US$703.2 billion changed hands in Q3, the lowest quarterly value since 1Q 2016 (US$ 627.9 billion) and 35.4 per cent lower than 2Q (US$ 1.09 trillion), with "a distinct lack of big-ticket deals" the last three months.Looking closer to home, while M&A deals among listed companies in the APAC region declined in Q3, Mergermarket reported that private equity activity remained active, registering US$103.5 billion (355 buyouts), up 8.2 per cent from last year. The takeover of Ant Financial, along with Blackstone Group's US$3.1 billion takeover of Australia REIT Investa Office Fund, meant that financial services has been the most active sector for buyouts in 2018. The sector has seen 27 buyouts worth US$23.7 billion, up by 3.7 times value from the same period last year. "Moreover, in August the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission decided to cancel and revise certain regulations on foreign investment in the banking sector to help open up the sector. The sector is therefore likely to see continued levels of high activity as firms look to break into the market," observed Mergermarket.The Australasia league table by value looked like this, as at the end of 3Q 2018, and was a very different mix compared to the same period last year:1  Morgan Stanley - US$39.5 bn2  UBS Investment Bank - US$35.1 bn 3  Goldman Sachs & Co  - US$33.3 bn4  Macquarie Group - US$31.9 bn5  Bank of America Merrill Lynch - US$19.8 bn6  Citi - US$18.7 bn7  Deutsche Bank - US$17.2 bn8  Grant Samuel - US$17.1 bn9  JPMorgan - US$12.4 bn10 Barclays - US$12.2 bn