The US is the region expected to be most attractive for dealmaking in 2012, according to Global Corporate Venturing's survey. The US received 15 mentions, although the picture was more mixed when looking at specific sectors.

Mary Kay James, managing director at DuPont Ventures, the venturing unit of the US industrials group, said the US was still most promising for clean-tech deals.

However, the corporate venturing head at a healthcare company said: "The US for now, but it is rapidly losing its edge to Europe and Asia due to regulatory sclerosis in the US.

"The FDA [the US Food and Drug Administration] is too risk-averse. They impose unreasonable burdens of proof on start-ups. For…