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Investment Banking

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Introduction to Investment Banking An investment bank is not a bank in the usual sense. It doesn't have checking or savings accounts, nor does it make auto or home loans. It is a bank in the general sense, in that it helps businesses, governments, and agencies to get financing from investors in a similar way that regular banks help these organizations get financing by lending money that the banks' customers have deposited in the banks' savings, checking, and money market accounts, and CDs. In other words, connecting the need for money with the source of money.Investment banks act as Intermediary between those needing funds (Corporations (domestic and foreign), government agencies, state and local governments, foreign governments) and …show more content…

After exposing the corrupt practices of commercial and investment banks, the investigation led to the establishment of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as to the signing of the Banking Act of 1933, also known as the Glass-Steagall Act. The SEC became responsible for regulating and overseeing in-vesting in public companies. The Glass-Steagall Act mandated the separation of commercial and investment banking and from then—until the late 1980—banks had to choose between the two enterprises. The Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 required investment banks to make full disclosures of securities offerings in investment prospectuses and charged the SEC with reviewing them. This legislation also required companies to regularly file financial statements in order to make known changes in their financial position. As a result of these acts, bidding for investment banking projects became competitive as companies began to select the lowest bidders and not rely on major traditional companies such as Morgan Stanley and Kuhn, Loeb. By the 1950s, investment banking began to pick up as the economy continued to prosper. This growth surpassed that of the 1920s. Consequently, major corporations sought new financing during this period. General Motors, for example, made a stock offering of $325 million in 1955, which was the largest stock offering to that time. In addition, airlines, shopping malls, and governments began

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