Editing Underwriting (section)

==Securities underwriting==
In the financial [[primary market]], [[Security (finance)|securities]] underwriting is the process by which [[investment banking|investment banks]] raise investment capital from buyers on behalf of corporations and governments by issuing securities (such as [[Share capital|stock]]s or [[Bond (finance)|bond]]s). 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).<ref>Mishkin p.18, p.545</ref> This process is often seen in [[initial public offering]]s (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.<ref>Mishkin p. 545</ref> 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.<ref name="Mishkin p. 547">Mishkin p. 547</ref> 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-dealer]]s who buy portions of the offering.

The services provided in the process of underwriting include:
# Giving advice on whether to issue stocks or bonds, the timing of issuance (ideally, corporations should sell securities when they will obtain the highest possible price). Underwriters also have to determine at what price the security should be sold.<ref>Mishkin p. 545, 546</ref>
# Filing documents: assisting companies with making the filings required by financial authorities. Companies issuing new securities to the general public must file a [[registration statement]] detailing their financial conditions, management, competition, industry, experience, funding purposes, and securities' risk assessment. A portion of this statement is reproduced in a document called a [[Prospectus (finance)|prospectus]], which investors can access to obtain information about new securities.<ref>Mishkin p. 546</ref>
# Underwriting: A company sells the entire issue to the underwriter at an agreed price. The underwriter will then sell it to the public at a higher price to achieve a profit, to the extent that it does not retain part of the issue as a proprietary holding.<ref name="Mishkin p. 547"/>

===Risk, exclusivity, and reward===
Once the underwriting agreement is struck, the underwriter bears the risk of being unable to sell the underlying securities, and the cost of holding them on its books until such time in the future that they may be favorably sold.

If the instrument is desirable, the underwriter and the securities issuer may choose to enter into an exclusivity agreement. In exchange for a higher price paid upfront to the issuer, or other favorable terms, the issuer may agree to make the underwriter the exclusive agent for the initial sale of the securities instrument. That is, even though third-party buyers might approach the issuer directly to buy, the issuer agrees to sell exclusively through the underwriter.

In summary, the securities issuer gets cash up front, access to the contacts and sales channels of the underwriter, and is insulated from the market risk of being unable to sell the securities at a good price. The underwriter receives a profit from the markup, plus the possibility of an exclusive sales agreement.

Also, if the securities are priced significantly below market price (as is often the custom), the underwriter also curries favor with powerful customers by granting them an immediate profit (see [[flipping]]), perhaps in a ''[[quid pro quo]]''. This practice, which is typically justified as the reward for the underwriter for taking on the market risk, is occasionally criticized as unethical, such as the allegations that investment banker [[Frank Quattrone]] acted improperly in doling out hot IPO stock during the [[dot-com bubble]].

In an attempt to capture more of the value of their securities for themselves, issuing companies are increasingly turning to alternative vehicles for going public, such as direct listings and [[Special-purpose acquisition company|SPAC]]s.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}