Merchant Bank

The term merchant bank is much less frequently used today, having given way to the term ‘investment bank’ i.e. a financial institution providing wholesale and institutional financial services i.e. financial advisory and client coverage, debt and equity capital markets, and institutional sales, trading and research. The two client sets are sovereigns, supranationals, NGOs, agencies and large corporations on one side; and institutional investors on the other. In the US, the term merchant bank has traditionally been used to describe activities more akin to those carried out by private equity or venture capital firms.