Securities underwriting

Securities underwriting

In the financial primary market, securities underwriting is the process by which investment banks raise investment capital from buyers on behalf of corporations and governments by issuing securities (such as stocks or bonds). As an underwriter, the investment bank guarantees a price for these securities, facilitates the issuance of the securities, and then sells them to the public (or retains them for their own proprietary account). This process is often seen in initial public offerings (IPOs), where investment banks help a corporation raise funds from the public. The underwriter is obligated to purchase the entire issue at a predetermined price before reselling the securities in the market. Should they not be able to find buyers, they will have to hold some securities themselves. To reduce the risk, they may form a syndicate with other investment banks. Each bank will buy a portion of the security issue, and typically resell securities from that portion to the public. Underwriters make their profit from the price difference (called "underwriting spread") between the price they pay the issuer and what they collect from buyers or from broker-dealers who buy portions of the offering.