Merchant Banking

What Is Merchant Banking ?

• Merchant Banking may be defined as an

institution which covers a wide range of activities
such as underwriting of shares, portfolio
management, Project counseling, insurance etc.
They all render these service for a fee. Both
commercial and investment banks may engage in
merchant banking activities.
• The original purpose of merchant banks was
to facilitate and/or finance production and trade
of commodities and hence the name "merchant“.
 Who Is A Merchant
• A merchant banker is one who is a critical link
Banker?
between a company raising fund and the
investors.
• Merchant banker is one who underwrites
corporate securities and advices on issues like
corporate mergers.
• The merchant banker may be in the form of a
bank, a company, firm or even a proprietary
concern.
• Merchant Banker understands the requirements of
the business concern and arranges finance with
the help of financial institutions, banks, stock
exchanges and money market
 Functions Of Merchant Banks
• Promotional Activities – Merchant Banks helps
the entrepreneur in conceiving an idea,
identification of projects, preparing feasibility
reports, obtaining Government approvals and
incentives etc.
• Issue Management - Management of issues
refers to effective marketing of corporate
securities viz., equity shares, preference shares
and debentures or bonds by offering them to
public. Merchant banks act as intermediary whose
main job is to transfer capital from those who
own it to those who need it .
 Functions Of Merchant Banks (cont)
• Credit Syndication - Credit Syndication refers to
obtaining of loans from single development
finance institution or a syndicate or consortium.
Merchant Banks help corporate clients to raise
syndicated loans from commercials bank.
• Project Counseling- It includes preparation
of projects reports, deciding upon the financing
pattern, appraising the project relating to its
technical, commercial and financial viability. It
includes filling up of application forms for
obtaining funds from financial institution.
 Functions Of Merchant Banks (cont)
• Portfolio Management - It refers to the effective
management of Securities i.e., the merchant banker helps
the investor in matters pertaining to investment decisions.
Taxation and inflation are taken into account while advising
on investment in different securities. The merchant banker
also undertakes the function of buying and selling of
securities on behalf of their client companies. Investments
are done in such a way that it ensures maximum returns and
minimum risk.
• Working capital Finance: Merchant bankers provide the
following services as a part of working capital finance
• Assessment of working capital requirement
• Preparing the application for the sanction of appropriate
credit facilities
• Providing assistance in negotiations with the banks.
• Advising on issue of debenture for augmenting long term
requirement of working capital.
• Acceptance credit and bill discounting: Activities relating to the
acceptance and discounting of bills of exchange, besides
advancement of loans to business concerns on strength of such
instruments. In order that the bill accepting and discounting takes
place it is imperative that the firms have a good reputation.
Collecting credit information and credit rating is part of this
function.
• Mergers and acquisitions: This is a specialized service provided by
merchant bankers who arrange for negotiating acquisitions and
mergers by offering expert valuation regarding the quantum and
nature of consideration. The activities involved include
• Undertaking management audits to identify the areas of strength and
weakness in order to help formulate guidelines for future growth.
• Conducting exploratory studies on a global basis to locate overseas
market, foreign collaborations, and JVs
• Obtaining approval from shareholders, depositors, creditors,
government and other authorities.
• Identifying organizations with matching characteristics.
• Assisting in capital restructuring.
• Assisting in legal complince.
 Functions Of Merchant Banks (cont)
• Leasing and Finance – Many merchant bankers
provide leasing and finance facilities. Some of them
even maintain venture capital funds to assist the
entrepreneurs. They also help companies in raising
finance by way of public deposits.
• Servicing Issues – Merchant Bankers helps in
servicing the shareholders and debenture holders in
distributing dividends, debenture interest.
•Other Specialized Services – Merchant Banks also
provide corporate advisory services on issues like
mergers and amalgamations, tax matters, recruitment of
executives and cost and management audit etc.
 Merchant Banking In India
• Need for merchant banking was felt with rapid growth in
number and size of issues made in primary issue.
• Merchant Banking services started by foreign banks,
namely National Grindlays in 1967 followed by Citi Bank
in 1970.
• Merchant Banking services was offered along with other
traditional banking services.
• SBI was first Indian bank to set up merchant banking
division in 1972.
• Later, the ICICI set up its merchant banking division in
1973.
• It was followed by other commercial banks like Canara
Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank Of India, Syndicate Bank,
Central Bank Of India, PNB, UCO Bank etc.
 Merchant Banking
Regulations
According to Securities and Exchange Board of India
(Merchant Bankers) Rules, 1992, it is mandatory for a
merchant banker to hold a certificate of registration
granted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
If a person/ organization wants to carry or undertake
any of the authorized activities, has to get registered
under the regulations. To obtain the certificate of
registration, one has to apply in the prescribed form
and fulfill two set of norms (a) operational capabilities
and (b)capital adequacy norms
Classification Of Merchant Banker
• Category I – to carry on the activity of issue
management i.e., the preparation of prospectus,
determining the financial structure, tie-up of
financiers ,financial allotment of securities and so
on. To act as adviser, consultant, manager,
underwriter, portfolio manager.
• Category II - to act as adviser, consultant, co-
manager, underwriter, and portfolio manager.
• Category III - to act as underwriter, adviser and
consultant to an issue.
• Category IV – to act only as adviser or consultant
to an issue of capital
 Capital Adequacy
Norms
• The minimum net worth requirement for
acting as merchant banker is given below:
• Category I – Rs. 5 cores
• Category II – Rs, 50 lakhs
• Category III – Rs. 20 lakhs
• Category IV – Nil
 Code Of Conduct
• Should make all efforts to protect the interest of
investors.
• Should maintain high standards of integrity,
dignity and fairness in conduct of business.
• Should fulfill all obligations in a professional and
ethical manner.
• Should not discriminate among the clients.
• Should endeavor to ensure that the inquiries,
grievances are adequately dealt with in a timely
and appropriate manner.
• Should ensure that prospectus/letter of offer is
available to investors at the time of issue.
 Code Of Conduct
•
(cont)
Should render best possible advice to its clients.
• Any penal action taken by SEBI
should be informed to its clients.
• Should inform the Board about legal proceedings
initiated against it.
• Should abide by the rules of SEBI, 2003.
• Should ensure that any person it employs should
have the capacity to be a merchant banker.
• Should not create false market.
 Obligations And
• Responsibilities
Merchant banker not to associate with any business other than
that of the securities market.
• Maintenance of book of accounts, records, etc. Every
merchant banker shall keep and maintain the following books
of accounts, records and documents namely:
• A. a copy of balance sheet at the end of each accounting
period
• b. A copy of profit and loss account for that period
• c. A copy of auditor’s report on the accounts of that period
• d. a statement of financial position
• Submission of half-yearly results.
• Report on steps taken on auditor’s report.
• Acquisition of shares prohibited.
• Information to the Board.
 Underwriter
• Underwriter are important intermediary in the
new issue /primary market who agree to take
up securities which are not fully subscribed.
They make a commitment to get the issue
subscribed or subscribe to the issue themselves
in the case of non subscription.
• Underwriters are appointed by the issuing
companies in consultation with the lead
managers/ merchant bankers to the issues
 Registration
• To act as underwriter,
a) A certificate of registration must be obtained from SEBI. A
SEBI registered merchant banker/ broker would not require a
separate registration.
b) The necessary infrastructure like adequate office space,
equipment and manpower to effectively discharge the activities
c) past experience in underwriting/ employment of at least two persons
with experience in underwriting.
d) Any person directly/indirectly connected with the applicant is
not registered with SEBI as underwriter or previous application of
any such person has been rejected or any disciplinary action has
been taken against such person under the SEBI act regulations
e) Capital adequacy requirement of not less than the net worth of Rs 20
lakh the capital adequacy requirement of broker underwriter would
be specified by the stock exchange concerned
f) The applicant/director/principal officer/partner has been
convicted of offence involving moral turpitude or found guilty of
any economic offence and is fit and proper person
 Fee
• The application fees for registration as
underwriter since 1999 is Rs 5 lakh. To keep
the registration in force renewal fees of Rs. 2
lakhs every 3 years from the date of initial
registration is payable. Failure to pay the fee
would result in the suspension of the certificate
of registration.
 Agreement with clients
Every underwriter has to enter into an
agreement with the issuing company.
The agreement among other provides for the
period during which the agreement is in force,
the amount of underwriter obligations the
period within which the underwriter has to be
subscribe to the issue after being intimated by/
on behalf of the issuer, the amount of
commission / brokerage, and details of
arrangements if any made by the underwriter
for fulfilling the underwriting obligations.
 General Responsibilities
• An underwriter cannot derive any direct or
indirect benefit from underwriting the issue
other than the underwriter commission .
• The maximum obligation under all under
writer agreements of an underwriter cannot
exceed 20 times his net worth .
• Underwriters have to subscribe for securities
under the agreement within 45 days of the
receipt of intimation from the issuers.
 Bankers to an issue
• The bankers to an issue are engaged in
activities such as acceptance of applications
along with application money from the
investors in respect of issues of capital and
refund of application money.
 Registration
To carry on the activities as a banker to an issue, a person must
obtain a certificate of registration from the SEBI.
The SEBI grants registration on the basis of all the activities
relating to banker to an issue in particular with reference to the
following requirements:
(1)The applicant has the necessary infrastructure, communication
and data processing facilities and manpower to effectively discharge
his activities,
(2)The applicant/any of the directors of the applicant is not involved
in any litigation connected with the securities market/has not been
convicted of any economic offence;
(3)Is a scheduled bank and
(4)Grant of a certificate is in the interest of the investors.
(5)A banker to an issue can apply for renewal of his registration
three months before the expiry of the certificate.
 Fee
• Every banker to an issue has to pay to the
SEBI an annual fee of Rs 2.5 lakh for the first
two years from the date of initial registration,
and Rs 1 lakh for the third year to keep his
registration in force. The renewal fee to be
paid by him annually for the first two years is
Rs 1 lakh and Rs 20,000 for the third year.
Non-payment of the prescribed fee may lead to
suspension of the registration certificate.
General Obligations and Responsibilities
When required a banker to an issue has to furnish to
the SEBI the following information:
(1)The number of issues for which he was engaged
as a banker to an issue;
(2)The number of applications/details of
applications’ money received;
(3)The dates on which applications from investors
were forwarded to the issuing company/ registrar
to an issue;
(4)The dates/ amount of refund to the investors.
 Books of Account / Record /
Documents
• A banker to an issue is required to maintain
books of account/records/ documents for a
minimum period of three years in respect of,
inter alia, the number of application received,
the names of the investors, the times within
which the applications received were
forwarded to the issuing company/ registrar to
the issue, and dates and amounts of refund
money to investors
Agreement with Issuing Companies
• Every banker to an issue enters into an
agreement with the issuing company. The
agreement provides for the number of
collection centres at which
applications/application money received is
forwarded to the registrar, for issuance and
submission of daily statement by the
designated controlling branch of the banker,
stating the number of applications and the
amount of money received from the investors
 Disciplinary Action by the
RBI
• If the RBI takes any disciplinary action against
a banker to an issue in relation to issue
payment, the latter should immediately inform
the SEBI. If the banker is prohibited from
carrying on his activities as result of the
disciplinary action, the SEBI registration is
deemed as suspended/ cancelled.
 Code of Conduct
• In the conduct of his business, he should observe high
standards of integrity and fairness in all his dealings with
clients/ investors / other members of the profession. He should
exercise due diligence and ensure proper care.
• He should not make any statement/indulge in any act,
practice/ unfair competition harmful to the interest of other
bankers or likely to place the latter in a disadvantageous
position.
• Further, he should not make exaggerated oral/written
statements to his clients about his qualification / capability to
render services or his earlier achievements in this regard.
• Moreover, a banker to an issue should always endeavour
to render the best possible advice to his clients and ensure that
all professional dealings are affected in a prompt, efficient
and cost effective manner.
 Code of conduct
• He should not divulge to other clients/press/any other
party any confidential information in his knowledge
about his client. He should also not allow blank
applications forms bearing brokers’ stamp to be kept at
the bank premises / near the entrance of the premises
and accept applications after office hours / or after the
date of closure of the issue/or o bank holidays.
• Finally, he should not act at any time in collusion with
other agents in a manner that is detrimental to small
investors. He has to abide by all acts, rules, regulations,
guidelines, resolutions, notification, directions,
circulars and instructions issued by the Government
/RBI/ Indian Banks Association / SEBI relevant to his
activities as a banker to an issue.
 Brokers to the issue
• Brokers are the persons mainly concerned with the
procurement of subscription to the issue from the prospective
investors.
• The appointment of a broker is not compulsory
• The issuing company is free to appoint any number of brokers.
• The manager to the issue and the official broker to the issue
organize the preliminary distribution of securities and procure
direct subscription from as large number of investors as
possible.
• The broker has to get a letter of consent from the respective
exchange to act as broker to an issue.
• Brokerage must be paid according to the agreement between
the broker and the company.
 Conditions for Grant Of Certificate Of
Registration as broker
• He holds the membership of any stock exchange
• He shall abide by rules, regulation and bye-
laws of stock exchange of which he is a member.
• He shall pay the fees for registration in the
manner provided in the regulations
• He shall take adequate steps for redressal of
grievances of the investors within one month of
the date of receipt of complaints
 Registrar to the Issue and Share
transfer agent
• Registrar to the issue perform the function of
collecting applications from investors and keep a
proper record of application and money received
from investor. They assist
the company in
determining the basis of allotment and finalizing
the allotment of securities in consultation with the
stock exchange. They process
allotment letters, refund orders and other
documents related to issue
• Share transfer agent maintain record of holder of
securities of company for & on
behalf of
company & handle all matters related to transfer
and redemption of securities of the company.
 Category of Registrar and Share transfer
agent
There are two categories
Category-I -those who carry on activities of both
Registrar and Share transfer agent
Category-I- those who carry on activities of
either Registrar or Share transfer agent
 Both require registration with SEBI for
carrying on with their operations. They are
granted registration on the basis of conditions
like necessary infrastructure, past experience
and capital adequacy. They can also seek
renewal of registration
 Capital adequacy
 Capital adequacy in terms of net worth is Rs 6
lakh for Category-I and Rs 3 lakh for Category-II
 Category-I is required to pay registration fees of
Rs. 50000 and renewal fees of Rs.40000 every 3
years while Category II have to pay
Rs. 30000 and Rs. 25000 respectively.
 Maintenance of book of Account- record relating
to all applications received from investors relating
to the issue, record all
together with reasons, basis of allotment of
rejected application
shares in consultation with stock exchange, date
of transfer of shares,
name of transferor and transferee.
 Debenture
• Trustee
A debenture trustee is a trustee for a trust deed
needed for securing any issue of debentures by a
company or any private placement of debentures
by a listed company.
• To act as a debenture trustee a certificate from
SEBI is necessary.
• Only banks , public financial institutions,
insurance companies and body corporate fulfilling
the capital adequacy requirement of Rs2 crore
can act as trustees
 Portfolio Managers
• Portfolio managers are defined as a person
who in pursuance of a contract with the clients,
advise/direct/ undertake on behalf of the
clients , the management administration of
portfolio of securities/funds of clients.
• Portfolio management can be
i) Discretionary
ii)Non Discretionary
Underwriting
Underwriting is an agreement, entered by a company with a financial agency, in order to ensure
that the public will subscribe for the entire issue of shares or debentures made by the company. The financial agency is known as the
underwriter and it agrees to buy that part of the company issues which are not subscribed to by the public in consideration of a specified
underwriting commission. The underwriting agreement, among others, must provide for the period during which the agreement is in force,
the amount of underwriting obligations, the period within which the underwriter has to subscribe to the issue after being intimated by the
issuer, the amount of commission and details of arrangements, if any, made by the underwriter for fulfilling the underwriting obligations.
The underwriting commission may not exceed 5 percent on shares and
2.5 percent in case of debentures.
Types of Underwriting

Syndicate Underwriting: - is one in which, two or more agencies or underwriters jointly underwrite an issue of securities. Such an
arrangement is entered into when the total issue is beyond the resources of one underwriter or when he does not want to block up large
amount of funds in one issue.
Sub-Underwriting:- is one in which an underwriter gets a part of the issue further underwritten by another agency. This is done to
diffuse the risk involved in underwriting.
Firm Underwriting: - is one in which the underwriters apply for a block of securities.
Under it, the underwriters agree to take up and pay for this block of securities as ordinary subscribers in addition to their commitment as
underwriters.
Role of Underwriters

The primary role of the underwriter is to purchase securities from the issuer and resell them to investors.
Underwriters act as intermediaries between issuers and investors, providing for an efficient of capital.
The underwriters take the risk that it will be able to resell the securities at a profit.
Perhaps the most visible and familiar element of the initial public offering process is the underwriter. The underwriter is the
organization that is actually responsible for pricing, selling, and organizing the issue, and it may or may not provide additional
services. With direct public offerings, there is no need for an underwriter.

Selection of a good underwriter is of the utmost importance, but it's important to understand that many underwriters are equally selective
of their clients. Because an underwriter's reputation depends on successful issues, few firms will be willing to stake their reputation on
questionable companies.

 When selecting an underwriter, it's important to seek out an established company with a good reputation and quality
research coverage in your field. The decision may also depend on the kind of agreement the underwriter is willing to
make regarding the sale of shares. For profitable and established private companies, it shouldn't be difficult to locate an
underwriter willing to make a firm commitment arrangement. Under such an agreement, the underwriter agrees to buy all
issues shares, regardless of ability to sell them at a particular price.

 For riskier or less established companies, an underwriter may offer best efforts arrangement for the initial public
offering. A best efforts contract requires the underwriter to buy only enough shares to fill investor demand. Under this
arrangement, the underwriter accepts no responsibility for unsold shares.

Devolvement and Business model

Insurers' business model can be simplified to a simple equation as follows
Profit = earned premium + investment income - incurred loss - underwriting expenses

Insurers can make money in two ways as follows

Through underwriting, the process by which insurers select the risks to insure and decide how much in premiums to charge for
accepting those risks
By investing the premiums they collect from insured parties.
 The most complicated aspect of the insurance business is the underwriting of policies. Using a wide assortment of data,
insurers predict the likelihood that a claim will be made against their policies and price products accordingly. To this end,
insurers use actuarial science to quantify the risks they are willing to assume and the premium they will charge to assume
them. Data is analyzed to fairly accurately project the rate of future claims based on a given risk. Actuarial science uses
statistics and probability to analyze the risks associated with the range of perils covered, and these scientific principles are
used to determine an insurer's overall exposure. Upon termination of a given policy, the amount of premium collected and
the investment gains thereon minus the amount paid out in claims is the insurer's underwriting profit on that policy. Of
course, from the insurer's perspective, some policies are "winners and some are "losers", insurance companies essentially
use actuarial science to attempt to underwrite enough "winning" policies to pay out on the "losers" while still maintaining
profitability.
 An insurer's underwriting performance is measured in its combined ratio. The loss ratio is added to the expense ratio to
determine the company's combined ratio. The combined ratio is a reflection of the company's overall underwriting
profitability. A combined ratio of less than 100 percent indicates underwriting profitability, while anything over 100
indicates an underwriting loss.
 Insurance companies also earn investment profits on “float”. “Float” or available reserve is the amount of money, at hand
at any given moment, that an insurer has collected in insurance premiums but has not been paid out in claims. Insurers
start investing insurance
premiums as soon as they are collected and continue to earn interest on them until claims are paid out. The Association of British Insurers

Underwriting in fixed price offers:

Underwriting is an optional for a fixed price offer. Therefore, if an issuer accompany feels that the issue is strong enough to sell on its
merits, it may decide to take the risk and opt for not underwriting it. In such case, the company only pays brokerage for marketing its
securities to investors and saves on underwriting commission. The underwriting decision is normally taken on consultation with the
lead manager who has a good understanding of the market.

The regulations further stipulate that if a fixed price offer is undertaken, the lead manager(s) managing the issue shall undertake a
minimum obligation of 5% of the total underwritten amount or Rs. 25 lakh whichever is lower. This regulation suppose that in
stipulating a mandatory participation of lead manager in the underwriting risk of the issue, a sense of responsibility would be
included to bring quality issues to the market.

Underwriting in book built offers:

Underwriting is compulsory in book built offers to the extent of the NPO and the issuer company does not have any discretion
therein. Therefore, if a company opts for 100% book building route, underwriting has to be done by the book runners and the
syndicate members. However, this requirement does not apply to issues where in 50% of the NPO has to be mandatorily allotted to
QIBs. In such issues, only the balance portion of NPO, shall be subject to mandatory underwriting.

In book built offers, the book runner assumes the responsibility for the overall underwriting. In case there is more than one book
runner, the interse allocation among the book runners determines the extent of their obligation. The book runner(s) enter in to
underwriting agreement with the issuer company. In case of under subscription in the issue, it develops on the book runners.

.
• Reference
• Financial Services by M Y Khan, McGraw
Hill Education (India) Pvt Ltd, 2013
• Merchant Banking by H.R. Machi Raju, New
Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers, 2010