CORPORATE BANKING: How It Works

You may automatically associate loans with “corporate banking.” If you’re not sure what “corporate banking” is or how it differs from “commercial banking” and “investment banking,” you’re not alone. Regardless of the outcome, you wouldn’t be wrong in your assessment. Even though the corporate banking section of a bank can help with loan applications, it has a lot more to do than just that. Commercial banking and investment banking have some things in common, but they are also different in many ways. In this article, we will discuss corporate banking salary and exit opportunities.

What Is Corporate Banking?

Corporate banking, which is also sometimes called “institutional banking,” is part of a bank that helps businesses, governments, and other large organizations get loans.

Most banks’ corporate banking divisions are part of their investment banking arms, and corporate banking is typically seen as a “loss leader” for other investment banking products like mergers and acquisitions, bond and equity underwriting, and other forms of capital raising.

Also, many different areas of banking serve both personal and business customers with different needs. Corporate banking is often used by big businesses to find answers because it focuses on helping businesses with loans and other financial products. Understanding the nature of corporate banking and the distinctions between it and related fields like retail and commercial banking will help you decide if this line of work is suited for you.

Most banks’ main source of income comes from their corporate banking services. However, as the primary source of client loans, it is also the primary cause of periodic write-downs due to defaulting loans. Also, commercial banks offer a wide range of services and products to businesses and other financial institutions, such as:

• Private equity financing
• Cash management
• Government backing
• Commercial real estate
• Invest in a resource exchange.

What Are the Elements That Make up Corporate Banking?

Corporate banking can be broken down into several subsets to better serve individual businesses. Here’s a rundown of what they do and how they work:

#1. Financial Technology

Financial technology is a group of technological tools and resources that corporate banking uses to set itself apart from its competitors and more traditional ways of banking. This can encompass things like mobile payments, internet banking, and blockchains.

#2. The Responsibilities of Central Banks and Other Monetary Authorities

 The goal of these organizations is to control an area’s economy by regulating and keeping an eye on commercial and retail banks to keep inflation low and keep the value of the currency stable. Smaller financial institutions, like banks and lenders, will sometimes go to larger financial institutions for help with money or advice.

#3. Organizations That Accept Deposits

Corporate banking banks rely on deposits from businesses that expect to make money from interest. Commercial banks and credit unions help them accomplish this goal.

#4. Mortgage Firms

These firms provide mortgage servicing for both individuals and businesses. These businesses provide borrowers with funding for their mortgages and actively seek out potential customers with financial needs

What Are the Characteristics of Corporate Banking?

The following characteristics of corporate banking below are;

• Financial Stability Rating: The company’s credit history includes details about how its business account has been used or handled. It affects the market value of the company’s stock, the interest rates imposed on loans to the company, etc.
• Authority: The opening of corporate banking accounts for a corporation requires approval from the board of directors. This means that they need to get approval through some sort of formal vote or company resolution. The treasurer is also the one who often sets up corporate banking for a business.
• Customer: The business banking division of a bank typically assists both medium-sized and large corporations.
• Liability: The contents of corporate accounts are not the personal property of individual board members but rather belong to the corporation itself. This is because the law recognizes companies as distinct legal entities. It indicates that there is a certain degree of autonomy in the accounting practices of the corporation. It also implies that the personal creditors of the board of directors of a corporation have no right to the contents of the corporate account of a firm.

What Are the Benefits of Corporate Banking?

With all the perks they provide, corporate banking is a great choice for companies of all sizes. The benefits are as follows:

#1. Allows Your Company to Flourish

Corporate banking can help your company expand with ease. You can use your account to team up with other companies or to send out mass payments, both of which help you when you need to designate more money to spend on personnel. Moreover, they provide clearer metrics for tracking your company’s development.

#2. One Can More Easily Get a Loan

A corporate bank account provides prospective investors with insight into your company’s financial health, which can help them make a more educated investment decision. The likelihood of securing financing from a financial institution or investment capital from an individual investor improves if your business has a corporate account.

#3. Promotes a Slicker Image for Your Company

It is important to have a corporate account because people will see it as a signal of legitimacy. Additionally, having all of your cash managed under one name rather than multiple names is an added benefit of having a corporate account. People’s perceptions of your company are directly correlated to how well you handle your company’s financial matters.

#4. Offers Comprehensive Financial Procedures and Methods

Corporate banks provide comprehensive statements on the activities of firms, which enable such businesses to evaluate which costs could be cut, which sectors require additional investment, and which revenue streams are the highest. This is of utmost importance for new businesses, since every taka counts toward their bottom line.

#5. Auditing of Taxes Made More Simple

Your company needs to establish a corporate account so that it can take advantage of the increased transparency that comes with having one. It can assist you in precisely determining the proportion of your business that is subject to taxation based on the net earnings of your company.

Corporate Banking vs Investment banking

Businesses can choose between corporate banking and investment banking for their financial needs. There is a common denominator between the two: the provision of financial services. Many banks provide corporate and investment banking to the same customers. However, they differ significantly from one another in key respects. Comparatively, investment banking tends to be more transactional, while corporate banking emphasizes long-term relationships with clients. Also, read INVESTMENT BANKERS: What Do Investment Bankers Do?

Difference Between Corporate Banking and Investment Banking

There are several significant differences between investment banking and traditional corporate banking. All of these things

#1. Documentation Preparation

Professionals in corporate finance and investment banking are each in charge of writing their own unique sets of paperwork. People who know a lot about corporate finance can be trusted to put together important financial documents for their clients, like balance sheets. Documents like pitch books and memoranda are regularly drafted by experts in investment banking.

#2. Work Classification

Even though investment banking is a subset of corporate financing, the tasks you perform in each area can be quite different. Investment banking works with clients who have more specific investment needs, while corporate banking helps businesses grow and consolidate by giving them the money they need to do so. There is a higher need for expertise in the investment banking sector, and competition is fiercer.

#3. Purpose

There are significant differences between investment banking and corporate banking. Corporate financing can help businesses in several ways, such as by making it easier to manage their assets and by letting them support growth, expansion, and other strategic projects. Investment banking, on the other hand, assists clients in increasing their wealth through the sale of securities, mergers, and acquisitions.

Read Also: RETAIL BANKING: Definition Types and How It Works

What Skills Do You Need for Corporate Banking?

To succeed in a banking job, you must possess a specific and uncommon set of traits and abilities. Banking, especially corporate and investment banking, is a very competitive field where usually only the best people move up. Here are the top seven skills you need for corporate banking:

#1. Attention to Detail

For a career in banking, you need to be able to spot trends or actions that no one else has seen, and you also need to be able to make complex financial reports for upper management. In many finance jobs, you must be able to swiftly and accurately identify unusual behavior or, more importantly, glaring blunders. It’s easy to miss a zero or two in math, but a $35 billion transaction won’t make your bosses laugh.

Therefore, demonstrating that you are a reliable employee and a valuable asset to the firm can be facilitated by your meticulous attention to detail in preventing errors and blunders.

#2. Analytical Skills

It’s a universal fact that if you don’t have the analytical ability to spot trends and patterns and draw decisive conclusions from the mountains of data you’ll be exposed to in banking and finance, you won’t get very far in your career. Not only will knowledge of Excel and Python be helpful, but so will other technological abilities. To get the most out of the data and give yourself an edge, you need to go in with a clear idea of what you want to find.

#3. Determination

As was stated earlier, corporate banking is a very cutthroat and competitive industry where you’ll face many challenges on your way up from the ranks of an intern to those of an account manager. The only way to get ahead is to have an iron will and be willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means sacrificing your personal life, to make it. If you succeed, the money you can make is almost unimaginable, but the road to get there is anything but smooth. After all, there is a lot of rivalry in the banking industry, and the path to success might be congested.

#4. Work Ethic

Similarly, investment banking is not a field for people who are not driven or interested. The lengthy hours put in by bankers are well known. Bankers, especially those just starting, are expected to have a great work ethic, even though this kind of work culture and lack of work-life balance shouldn’t be the norm. So, as an entry-level professional, you should be ready to put in the work needed to build a solid foundation for your career. You should look elsewhere for work if you lack the minimum level of tenacity for your task.

#5. Communication skills

Communication skills are essential in any field of employment, and banking is no exception. For a career in finance to be successful, you need to be able to work well with other people. This is true whether you’re explaining complicated financial concepts or procedures to clients who don’t work in finance, writing and compiling in-depth reports, or learning how to communicate professionally at the management level.

Make sure you have excellent communication skills before entering the banking industry and that you can give and receive directions with ease.

#6. Confidence

People have a bad opinion of bankers because of the stereotype of the macho young man who only cares about money and excess. One indeed needs a healthy dose of self-assurance to succeed in such a setting, even if this doesn’t reflect reality accurately. This doesn’t mean you have to act the part, but it does mean that you need to be completely confident in your abilities to succeed in such a competitive setting.

Banking has always been a male-dominated field, so self-confidence is especially important for a woman who is just starting in the field. Though it may appear impossible at first, having faith in one’s abilities is crucial for shattering the dreaded glass ceiling.

#7. Stress Management

It’s no secret that working in banking is a stressful occupation due to the long hours and intense pressure. You need a high-stress threshold and effective coping mechanisms to thrive in this environment.

This is mandatory as well. Stress-related illnesses, burnout, and other mental health problems are big problems in the banking industry. A profession in this field may not be the best option for you if you are the type of person who easily becomes overwhelmed and can’t produce quality work when time is of the essence.

Corporate Banking Salary 

Corporate banking departments that work well with investment banks usually have basic salaries that are on par with investment banking salaries. However, bonuses are much lower because client revenue is more stable and relationship managers can get more out of using the bank as a whole.

The average corporate banking salary in the United States is $58,803 per year. But a banker’s salary can change based on where they work and how much experience they have. By way of illustration, a banker with three years of experience or more may anticipate a higher salary than one with less. It’s also possible that if the economy gets better or worse, banks will pay corporate bankers differently.

Associates are promoted by analysts more frequently in corporate banking than in investment banking. Salary levels are lower than in investment banking but higher than in corporate finance for corporate banks with less well-established investment banking divisions.

Corporate Banking Exit Opportunities

Analysts in corporate banking have fewer ways out of the business than analysts in investment banking.

Because of the nature of the work, it is possible to go from the analyst position to that of an associate and eventually to that of a corporate banker. There are still just a few managing directors (MDs) at the very top of the corporate banking pyramid.

So, many corporate bankers try to move from corporate banking to debt capital markets or investment banking within the same bank, but they end up stuck at a lower level.

Corporate bankers rarely invest in non-banking financial markets like private equity, hedge funds, or corporate growth. Even though it may seem like a perfect fit for credit funds, bankers who specialize in mergers and acquisitions, leveraged financing, and corporate restructuring usually have more experience and better modeling skills.

Conclusion

Today, every business needs a corporate bank account because it has so many benefits that can’t be gotten with any other mix of financial products and services. Corporate banks are legitimate, but they also help businesses succeed because of their openness and the high quality of service they provide.

We hope you’ve gained a better understanding of corporate banking and its advantages after reading this article.

Corporate Banking FAQs

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Reference

• corporatefinanceinstitute.com
• au.indeed.com
• wallstreetprep.com
• thebalancemoney.com