North American banking and financial services firms signed twice as many outsourcing deals in the third quarter as compared to the second quarter this year, according to the Market Vista: Q3 2009 report by Everest, a global consulting and research firm.

Everest said in its quarterly study that global outsourcing and offshoring activity transaction volume decreased 10 percent globally in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter, while captives activity was at an 18-month high.