Wholesale banking is the provision of services by banks to organizations such as Mortgage Brokers, large corporate clients, mid-sized companies, real estate developers and investors, international trade finance businesses, institutional customers (such as pension funds and government entities/agencies), and services offered to other banks or other financial institutions.[1][2]
Wholesale finance refers to financial services conducted between financial services companies and institutions such as banks, insurers, fund managers, and stockbrokers.
Modern wholesale banks engage in:
- Finance wholesaling
- Underwriting
- Market making
- Consultancy
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Fund management
A merchant bank is a financial institution providing capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advisory on corporate matters to the firms in which they invest. In the United Kingdom, the historical term "merchant bank" refers to an investment bank.
Today, according to the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), "the term merchant banking is generally understood to mean negotiated private equity investment by financial institutions in the unregistered securities of either privately or publicly held companies."[1] Both commercial banks and investment banks may engage in merchant banking activities. Historically, merchant banks' original purpose was to facilitate and/or finance production and trade of commodities, hence the name "merchant". Few banks today restrict their activities to such a narrow scope.