{"id":6250,"date":"2017-10-18T10:41:08","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T05:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging-imarticus.kinsta.cloud\/?p=6250"},"modified":"2024-03-22T09:24:59","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T09:24:59","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-an-investment-bank-and-a-retail-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imarticus.org\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-an-investment-bank-and-a-retail-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the difference Between an Investment Bank and a Retail Bank?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This could easily be asked as an interview question and one that seemingly causes a lot of confusion for aspirants in the Finance domain. To help you understand investment banking, it\u2019s best to differentiate it from the type of banking that you have experience with: commercial or retail banking \u2013 the banks that you see on the street.<\/p>\n

The banking sector is split into two fundamental divisions: Investment banking and retail banking.<\/a>
\nLet\u2019s understand what Investment banking is. Investment banks are huge financial institutions<\/strong> that assist their clients \u2013 mostly corporates and government agencies – in raising capital <\/strong>by underwriting and acting as the agent or an underwriter in the issuance of securities.<\/p>\n

An investment bank assists these organizations with complex financial solutions such as Mergers and Acquisitions<\/a>, Equity Underwriting, Private Placement, Valuation and Fairness Opinion, Corporate Restructuring,\u00a0 Structured Refinance, Management Buyouts, among others.<\/p>\n

In a way, Investment Banks serve as a bridge between large corporations and investors.<\/p>\n

\"Investment
\nInvestment banking is split into the front office, middle office, and back office activities. Think you want to be an investment banker? \u00a0Chances are the role you are imagining is a front office role.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, The bank where you maintain your current (UK), checking (USA) or savings account is a commercial or retail bank. You cannot go into an investment bank and deposit your money, get your ATM card, or ask for a student loan. This is what commercial or retail banks do. – The value of transactions that happen in a retail bank is very low in nature but the number of transactions is significantly higher than those of investment banks Some retail banks have an investment banking unit, others do not.<\/p>\n

For example, SBI Bank is primarily a Retail Bank and has established a subsidiary company SBI Cap Securities, which carries on investment banking operations. Retail Banking encompasses a wide variety of products and services like Savings Accounts, Bank Guarantees, Certificate of Deposits, Mortgages, Personal Loans, Letter of credits, Foreign Exchange services for retails clients, Insurance business, Wealth Management Services, Personal Banking, Stock Brokerage Services, Locker Facilities etc. which are not provided by Investment Banks.<\/p>\n

Some of the well-known Investment Banks include:<\/p>\n