So what exactly is an investment bank? Simply put, an investment bank refers to a financial institution whose main business is investment banking. However, readers can easily find that this is actually a meaningless circular definition, but it at least gives us a revelation: if we define investment banks, we also define investment banks. Generally speaking, investment banking can be defined from a broad sense to a narrow sense: first, investment banking includes all financial market businesses; Second, investment banking includes all capital market businesses; Third, investment banking business is limited to securities underwriting, trading business and mergers and acquisitions business; Fourth, investment banking only refers to securities underwriting and trading business. At present, the second definition is generally accepted, that is, investment banking includes all capital market businesses. Therefore, investment banks can be defined as: investment banks refer to financial institutions whose main business is capital market business.
According to this definition, not all enterprises engaged in capital market business (or investment banking business) are investment banks, only those enterprises whose main business is capital market business are investment banks. In addition, investment banks are not enterprises that operate all capital market business, but enterprises whose main business is capital market business, whether it is one or two.
Of course, this definition is dynamic, because with the continuous development of capital market business, the connotation of investment bank is also developing. Like the famous investment banker Robert? Robert kuhn said: "Investment banking is an organic process-it is constantly changing, developing and evolving. No book can accurately and comprehensively describe Beijing?" Therefore, don't mechanically understand the above definition of investment bank. At present, capital market business (or investment banking business) mainly includes securities underwriting, securities trading, mergers and acquisitions, fund management, project financing, venture capital, credit asset securitization and so on.
Brief introduction of investment bank
Investment banks are non-bank financial institutions mainly engaged in securities issuance, underwriting, trading, enterprise restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, investment analysis, venture capital, project financing and other businesses, and are the main financial intermediaries in the capital market.
Investment bank is the product of the development of securities and joint-stock company system at a specific stage, and it is an important subject of developed securities market and mature financial system. In the development of modern social economy, it plays an important role in communicating the supply and demand of funds, building a securities market, promoting enterprise mergers and acquisitions, promoting industrial concentration and economies of scale, and optimizing resource allocation.
Due to the rapid development of investment banks, it is very difficult to define investment banks. Investment bank is the name of the United States and continental Europe, Britain is called merchant bank, and Japan is called securities company. There are four main definitions of investment banks in the world:
First, any financial institution engaged in Wall Street financial business can be called an investment bank.
Second, only financial institutions that operate part or all of the capital market business are investment banks.
The third type: financial institutions engaged in securities underwriting and corporate mergers and acquisitions are called investment banks.
Fourth, financial institutions that only underwrite securities in the primary market and trade securities in the secondary market are called investment banks.
Investment bank is a concept corresponding to commercial bank, and it is a new industry formed by modern financial industry to adapt to the development of modern economy. The distinctive features that distinguish it from other related industries are as follows: firstly, it belongs to the financial service industry, which is the symbol that distinguishes general consulting from intermediary service industry; Second, it mainly serves the capital market, which is a sign that distinguishes commercial banks; Third, it is an intelligence-intensive industry, which is different from other professional financial services institutions.
Types of investment banks
At present, there are mainly four types of investment banks in the world:
(1) Independent professional investment bank. This form of investment bank exists widely all over the world. Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, salomon brothers Company, Morgan Stanley Company, First Boston Company, Nomura Securities, Daiwa Securities, Nikko Securities, Yi Shan Securities, Warburg Company and British Baoyuan Company all belong to this type and all have their own professional directions.
(2) Investment banks owned by commercial banks (commercial banks). This form of investment bank is mainly for commercial banks to engage in commercial banking and investment banking business through mergers, acquisitions, equity participation or the establishment of their own subsidiaries. This form of investment bank is very typical in Britain, Germany and other countries.
(3) Universal banks are directly engaged in investment banking. Such investment banks are mainly located in continental Europe. They are engaged in general commercial banking and investment banking.
(4) Financial companies established by some large multinational companies.
Investment banks in China.
China's investment banking business is constantly developing to meet the needs of securities issuance and trading. From the practice of our country, the investment banking business was originally completed by commercial banks, which are not only the main issuers of financial instruments, but also the financial institutions with the most financial assets. In the middle and late 1980s, with the opening of China's securities circulation market, the securities business of the original commercial banks was gradually separated, and a large number of securities companies were established in various regions, forming a securities market intermediary system dominated by securities companies. In the following ten years, brokers gradually became the main body of investment banking in China. However, in addition to professional securities companies, there are a large number of trust and investment companies, financial investment companies, property rights trading and brokerage institutions, asset management companies and financial consulting companies engaged in other businesses of investment banks.
Investment banks in China can be divided into three types: the first is national, the second is regional and the third is private. National investment banks are divided into two categories: one is securities companies with the banking system as the background; The second is a trust and investment company with the background of ministries directly under the State Council or the State Council. Regional investment banks are mainly professional securities companies and trust companies at the provincial and municipal levels. Relying on the state monopoly in securities business, the above two types of investment banks occupy a dominant position in the investment banking industry in China. The third kind of private investment banks are mainly some investment management companies, financial consulting companies and asset management companies. Most of them have developed from providing management consulting and investment consulting services to customers in the past. They have certain capital strength and strong flexibility in enterprise mergers and acquisitions, project financing and financial innovation, and are gradually becoming another backbone in the field of investment banking in China.
The development of modern investment banking in China is less than fifteen years, and there are still some problems such as too small scale, too narrow business scope, lack of high-quality professionals and excessive competition. However, China's investment banking industry is facing the biggest market demand in history. With the rapid development and deepening of China's economic system reform, the demand for investment and financing in social and economic life will be increasingly strong, and large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises will increasingly rely on the role of the capital market in changing their operating mechanisms and private enterprises seeking future development, which will lay a solid foundation for the long-term development of investment banking in China.
World-class investment bank/Merrill Lynch/Goldman Sachs/JPMorgan Chase
(1) Domestic investment banks: CICC, Huaou International, Haitong Securities, Guotai Junan, CITIC Securities, Everbright Securities, Guangfa Securities, Industrial Securities, Ping An Securities, Southwest Securities, Guoyuan Securities, etc.
(2) Overseas investment banks: Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Jinbang Finance, CITIC Capital, Bora Securities Group, uob, First Shanghai Finance and Dafu Securities.
(3) Professional investment institutions: Dinghui Investment, AIG Direct Investment, Goldman Sachs Direct Investment, Jiuyi Investment, SIIC Investment, Softbank China, Innovation Investment, Hejun Venture Consulting, Sheng Da Investment, Joint Investment, etc.
Law firms: Smith Law Firm, Shengde International Law Firm, Cheng Jintian Law Firm, Jing Tian Gongcheng Law Firm, Jindu Law Firm, Yingming Law Firm, Wenhai Law Firm, etc.
(5) Accounting firms: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, KPMG, Dahua, Lixin Changjiang, Beijing Kyoto, etc.
(6) Famous media at home and abroad: CCTV, China Business News, china securities journal, shanghai securities news, Caijing Magazine, 2 1 Century Business Herald, investment bankers, etc.