Securities lending revenues topped $8.6bn last year, according to securities finance specialist Datalend.

The firm, part of Equilend, tallied up securities lending revenues over the course of the twelve months, finding that the bulk of returns ($4.2bn) came from North America.

Revenues in Europe topped $2.8bn during the course of 2015, with income from Asian sec lending programmes raking in £1.1bn.

The numbers represent gross revenues earned in securities lending and don’t take into account fee splits between agent lenders and beneficial owners.

Across both equities and fixed income, the value of the securities out on loan to banks, brokers, hedge funds and others totalled $1.69trn.

Sec lending, the process of loaning out securities, is commonly associated with short selling – betting on a security to decline in value.

The lenders, often mutual funds, pension funds and insurance companies, can generate higher fees from borrowers if the stocks they hold are in high demand.

Slumping commodity prices, for example, have boosted short selling activity in the commodity sector in recent months.

Average fees to borrow in US metals and mining stocks, Datalend suggests, have risen from 125bps in October to 200bps today.

Borrowing fees for oil stocks, meanwhile, have soared in most cases, with crude prices at multi-year lows.