Investment banks, as opposed to commercial banks, assist public and private corporations in raising funds in the Capital Markets (both equity and debt), as well as in providing strategic advisory services for mergers, acquisitions and other types of financial transactions. With the growing streak of this trend around the world, there is an increase in debt finance in the market from established investors mostly for an infrastructure project and more conventional renewable energy assets including solar PV, onshore wind and Bioenergy.
A major challenge concerning the Financial Markets in the Southern African region is the harmonization of the national financial regulation and the compliance with international requirements, including the SADC criteria and the international standards set by international organizations such as the International Organization of securities Commissions (IOSCO), the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the obligations resulting from the WTO Agreement on financial Services (GATS).
You can borrow money at interest rates as low as 0{29605dee68c1b183c971296e05b1536e8a9cef6d5d48c9b4ef1206285b877a40} APR, and invest them in banks that offer higher interest rates, say about 5{29605dee68c1b183c971296e05b1536e8a9cef6d5d48c9b4ef1206285b877a40}. This way, by taking no high risk positions and just through the transfer of money from one account or instrument to another, you can earn hundreds of dollars.
PS for those of you who get this question in an investment banking analyst interview (ie not a summer internship interview), you’ll need to push your story of why IB even harder to convince bankers to take you on. This is because bankers hate offering permanent spots to candidates who might quit the minute things get tough.
When people started wondering how a poor many could have become a millionaire in such a short time, investors became suspicious and started pulling their money out. Usually sold initially to a market maker type organization such as an investment bank, these securities may be resold to the general public by the broker.