Corporate banking

Corporate Banking

First Imaginary will provide loans, either from its own reserves or – more likely – by borrowing at a lower rate from another bank. CORPORATE BANKNG provides the loans but also acts as the long-term relationship manager and conduit to other services.

Transactional Services

A bank knows all about handling large flows of money, so First Imaginary could well offer TRANSACTION SERVICES to its clients, helping them manage their cashflow, trade finance and a range of securities services from custody to clearing. You could think of it as current account banking for corporations, except that in this case the balance could be measured in billions of dollars.

Mergers & Acquisitions

The Corporate Finance specialists of First Imaginary will help the client to buy or merge with other companies; this is known as M&A or MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS. If MiMiCorp becomes a listed company, it could use its shares to buy other firms.

Equity Capital Markets

One way to raise investment funds is to sell small chunks of ownership in the business ('shares' or EQUITIES) to outside investors. When a company sells shares in this way it is said to 'go public', or 'float' or 'do an IPO' (Initial Public Offering). The CORPORATE FINANCE arm of First Imaginary will arrange the listing of the company on the stock market, raising funds by offering shares or 'equity' in the newly listed company. The structuring and marketing of new issues is known as Origination. People buy equities in companies because they hope they will grow in value as the company thrives, and maybe deliver income through periodic dividends. The bank will find buyers for the shares and underwrite the issue (ie undertake to buy unsold shares); once the company is floated, the bank will also trade in those shares.

Fixed Income Capital Markets

Bonds are the debt instruments of the capital markets and they offer a flexible alternative to loans. Widely known as FIXED INCOME products, they can be traded as securities, just like shares – and they too come under the broad heading of Corporate Finance. The structuring and marketing of new fixed-income products is another form of Origination. Another way of reducing the risk and cost of large loans is the syndicated loan, which is shared between a number of lenders. It's worth knowing that the biggest players in the debt capital markets and the largest issuers of bonds are governments rather than companies.

Project Finance

Here, the bank might not be paid back for years, so the bank will lend against the future income of the completed project. PROJECT FINANCE specialists help to fund complex infrastructure projects, like dams, bridges, power stations and factories; in the UK, Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) are probably the most famous, innovative and occasionally controversial forms of project finance deal. Once again, governments are big players in the project finance sector.

Asset Finance

The bank can provide ASSET FINANCE facilities for the biggest items by buying the assets and leasing them to the client. When the bank owns the asset, it can use the tax allowances and pass this on to the client as a cheaper form of financing. In practice it means that Michael will be paying for automation from the value it helps to create.

Private Banking

Some people are so wealthy that they need particular help in managing their investments, liabilities and responsibilities. First Imaginary will offer a specific PRIVATE BANKING service for high-net-worth individuals with large and complex asset portfolios.

Capital Markets

As well as distributing and underwriting the issue of securities (Origination), the CAPITAL MARKETS teams of investment banks will buy and sell securities once issued. These include both equity and debt products. When the bank undertakes to buy and sell particular securities it is ‘market making’ because buyers (a) know where to go to buy them and (b) know they will be able to sell them again.