Merchant Bank What Does Merchant Bank Mean? A bank that deals mostly in (but is not limited to) international finance, long-term loans for companies and underwriting. Merchant banks do not provide regular banking services to the general public. Investopedia explains Merchant Bank Their knowledge in international finances make merchant banks specialists in dealing with multinational corporations.
Merchant bank In banking, a merchant bank is a financial institution primarily engaged in offering financial services and advice to corporations and to wealthy individuals. The term can also be used to describe the private equity activities of banking. The chief distinction between an investment bank and a merchant bank is that a merchant bank invests its own capital in a client company whereas an investment bank purely distributes (and trades) the securities of that company in its capital raising role. Both merchant banks and investment banks provide fee based corporate advisory services including in relation to mergers and acquisitions.