The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that Peter Miller, the head of global equity capital markets at BMO Capital Markets, is cautiously optimistic that business is about to pick up. The Post's Barbara Shecter quotes Mr. Miller saying, "You know, 2023 was a tough year," pointing out that new-issue activity barely matched levels reached in a "weak" 2022. The primary culprit, he and other investment bankers said, was uncertainty, as questions about volatile interest rates kept a lid on activity. There were fewer deals over all last year -- 864 compared with 937 in 2022. The total value of all deals also declined, to $460.3-billion from $475.7-billion a year earlier. RBC Capital Markets topped 2023's all-deals category, which includes corporate debt and equity as well as government debt issues, with a 14.78-per-cent share. RBC had 238 mandates and $68.03-billion in deals. TD Securities came second in the all-deals ranking with an 11.22-per-cent share on 170 mandates and a dollar figure of $51.63-billion. It was a far cry from the dealmaking frenzy of 2020 and 2021, when interest rates remained at historic lows, making capital accessible and cheap, and pent-up demand helped drive a postshutdown boom in activity.