1

Overview of Investment Banking

The material in this chapter should be cross-referenced with the following cases: Investment Banking in 2008 (A) and Investment Banking in 2008 (B).

Investment banking changed dramatically during the 20-year period preceding the global financial crisis that started during mid-2007, as market forces pushed banks from their traditional low-risk role of advising and intermediating to a position of taking considerable risk for their own account and on behalf of clients. This high level of risk-taking, combined with high leverage, transformed the industry during 2008, when several major firms failed, huge trading losses were recorded, and all large firms were forced to reorganize their business.

Risk-taking activities ...

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