1
Chapter 24
Securities Operations
Financial Markets and Institutions, 7e, Jeff Madura
Copyright ©2006 by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning. All rights reserved.
2
Chapter Outline
Investment banking services
Brokerage services
Sources of income
Regulation of securities firms
Risks of securities firms
Valuation of a securities firm
Interaction with other financial institutions
Participation in financial markets
Globalization of securities firms
3
Investment Banking Services
One of the main functions of investment banking
firms (IBFs) is raising capital for corporations
IBFs originate, structure, and place securities in the
capital markets
They serve as an intermediary rather than a lender or
investor
Their compensation is typically in the form of fees
4
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate new stock offerings
An IBF acts as an intermediary between a corporation
and investors
Origination
IBFs recommend the appropriate amount of stock to issue
IBFs evaluate the corporation’s financial condition to
determine the appropriate stock price
5
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate new stock offerings (cont’d)
Origination (cont’d)
The issuing corporation registers with the SEC
The registration statement is intended to ensure that
accurate information is disclosed by the issuing corporation
Included in the registration information is the prospectus,
disclosing relevant financial data on the firm and provision
applicable to the security
The IBF and the issuing firm may engage in a road show to
meet with institutional investors
6
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate new stock offerings (cont’d)
Underwriting
The IBF may form an underwriting syndicate and ask other
IBFs to underwrite a portion of the stock
In a best-efforts agreement, the IBF does not guarantee a
price to the issuing corporation
During IPOs:
IBFs want to set the price high so that the issuing corporation
receives higher proceeds
IBFs do not want to set the price too high in order to place the
entire issue
IBFs tend to underprice IPOs
7
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate new stock offerings (cont’d)
Distribution of stock
The prospectus is distributed to all potential purchasers of the
stock
The issue is advertised to the public
Some IBFs have brokerage subsidiaries that can sell stock on
a retail level
The corporation incurs two types of flotation costs:
Fees paid to the underwriters
Issue costs, including printing, legal, registration, and
accounting expenses
8
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate new stock offerings (cont’d)
Advising
The IBF acts as an adviser during the origination stage and
may provide advice after the stock is issued
Private placement of stocks
IBFs may be able to place an entire offering with a small set
of institutional investors
Rule 144A allows firms to engage in private placement
without the registration statement
An underwriting syndicate may not be necessary
The issuing firm’s costs are lower
9
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate new bond offerings
Origination
The IBF may suggest a maximum amount of bonds based on
existing debt levels
The coupon rate, maturity, and other provisions are decided
The asking price on the bonds will be determined by
evaluating market prices of existing bonds
Issuers of bonds must register with the SEC and a
registration statement must be filed
10
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate new bond offerings (cont’d)
Underwriting bonds
Some issuers may solicit competitive bids on the price of bonds
from various IBFs
IBFs provide several services to the issuer
Underwriting spreads on newly issued bonds are normally lower
than on newly issued stock
The IBF may organize an underwriting syndicate to participate in
placing the bonds
Distribution of bonds
A prospectus is distributed to all potential purchasers
The issue is advertised to the public
The asking price is normally set to ensure a sale of the entire issue
Flotation costs range from 0.5 to 3 percent of the value of the
bonds
11
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate new bond offerings (cont’d)
Advising
IBFs may serve as advisers even after the placement is
completed
Private placement of bonds
In a private placement, the issuing corporation sells the
issue to a purchaser of the entire issue
Avoids underwriting fees
Private placements are more common for bonds than for
stocks
12
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate leveraged buyouts
IBFs assess the market value of the firm
IBFs arrange financing, which involves raising funds and
purchasing any common stock outstanding that is held by the
public
IBFs may be retained in an advisory capacity
IBFs may purchase a portion of the firm’s assets to provide
financial support
Exposes the IBF to a high degree of risk
Merrill Lynch has designed a mutual fund that finances LBOs
Purchase junk bonds of firms that went private
Provides bridge loans that offer temporary financing to firms until
junk bonds can be issued
13
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate arbitrage
Arbitrage activity involves the purchasing of
undervalued shares and the resale of those shares for
a higher profit
Arbitrage firms search for undervalued firms and
IBFs raise funds for these firms
Asset stripping involves acquiring the firm and selling
its individual divisions off
The sum of the parts is greater than the whole
14
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate arbitrage (cont’d)
IBFs generate fee income from advising arbitrage firms and
receive a commission on the bonds issued to support the
arbitrage activity
IBFs receive fees from divestitures of divisions
IBFs may provide bridge loans if additional financing is needed
IBFs may provide advise on defense takeover tactics and finance
takeovers
Some arbitrage firms take positions in hostile takeover targets to
benefit from the expected takeover by another group
Some attempts at arbitrage fail because target firms are successful
at defending against a takeover
15
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate arbitrage (cont’d)
History of arbitrage activity
Sometimes arbitrage firms have accumulated shares of
targets with the expectation that targets will buy back the
shares at a premium
Greenmail
Some IBFs helped to finance greenmail
Arbitrage activity has been criticized because:
It often results in excessive financial leverage and risk for
corporations
The restructuring of divisions after acquisitions results in
layoffs
16
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate corporate restructuring
IBFs provide advice on corporate restructuring
IBFs assess potential synergies that might result from the
combination of two businesses
The sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts
IBFs may suggest a carve-out in which the firm sells a unit of
the firm to new shareholders through an IPO by the unit
The sum of the parts is greater than the sum of the whole
The unit may also be spun off, where new shares of the unit
are created and distributed to existing shareholders
17
Investment Banking Services
(cont’d)
How IBFs facilitate corporate restructuring
(cont’d)
IBFs provide advice on mergers and acquisitions
IBFs are critical in the valuation of the business
IBFs have loaned out their funds to companies involved in
mergers and acquisitions or even provided equity financing
The IBF can help finance an acquisition by:
Providing loans to the acquirer
Underwriting bonds or stock for the acquirer
Investing their own equity in the acquirer’s purchase of the
target
18
Brokerage Services
Market orders are requests by customers to purchase or
sell securities at the market price existing when the order
reaches the exchange floor
Limit orders are requests by customers to purchase or
sell securities at a specified price or better
Specialists monitor limit orders and execute transactions in
accordance with the limits specified
If investors order a sale of securities when the price reaches a
specified minimum, it is a stop-loss order