Investment banks profit from companies and governments by raising money through issuing and selling securities in the capital markets (both equity and bond), as well as providing advice on transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. To perform these services in the US, an advisor must be a licensed broker-dealer, and is subject to SEC (FINRA) regulation. Until the late 1980s, the United States and Canada maintained a separation between investment banking and commercial banks.

A majority of investment banks offer strategic advisory services for mergers, acquisitions, divestiturederivatives, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodity, and equity securities. or other financial services for clients, such as the trading of

Trading securities for cash or securities (i.e., facilitating transactions, market-making), or the promotion of securities (i.e., underwriting, research, etc.) is referred to as the "sell side."

Dealing with the pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, and the investing public who consume the products and services of the sell-side in order to maximize their return on investment constitutes the "buy side". Many firms have buy and sell side components.

The last two major bulge bracket firms on Wall Street were Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley until both banks elected to convert to traditional banking institutions on the 22nd of September, 2008, as part of a response to the US financial crisis. ^{Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, and UBS AG are "universal banks" rather than bulge-bracket investment banks, since they also accept deposits (though not all of them have U.S. branches).}

Banking KPI’s include certain metrics that are quantifiable and specific. They can be categorized to six classifications, such as income metrics, cost metrics, company asset metrics, investment metrics, interest margin metrics, and risk metrics.

KPI’s or key performance indicators are metrics used to measure the progress of an organization towards the attainment of its goals. These metrics can be financial or non-financial in nature. Customer satisfaction has been a common metric used by businesses. This can also be metric used in the financial industry.

If many customers are satisfied by a business, it literally means good progress for the business. However, seeing and knowing your customers are satisfied with your product or service is not enough. It is also important for a business to have statistical or mathematical information with regards to customer satisfaction.

The progress of an organization can be determined not just on the data inscribed on financial statements. Management must also present measures that show the performance and progress of the organization.

The metrics, such as key performance indicators, are used more commonly to assess the performance of a company on different areas and activities. The metrics as mentioned above can be broken down to various measurements.

In the income metrics category, a company can measure the performance of its income through the following measurements: gross profit, non-interest incomes level, fee income level, and interest spread.

The gross profit is a common component in an income and expense statement of businesses. It is computed by deducting the cost of sales to sales.

The fee income level in the case of service-oriented businesses can be derived by dividing the operating income to the fee income. On the other hand, non-interest income divided by operating income results to non-interest income level.

Computing for the interest spread involves a complex equation. To derive the interest spread amount, the interest income is divided by interest earning sales. The result of the first equation is deducted to the ratio of interest expense and interest bearing liabilities.

In the past, people often rush to the bank for last minute deposits or withdrawals resulting in long lines at the teller’s booth. This was very inconvenient for most of us. Time and effort are invested in such a simple transaction. Frustrations were rampant because of cut-off times and immediate need of funds.

Many were already contented with this system. When online banking was introduced, many were glad to have this convenient process of banking. Internet banking was aimed at bringing banking to a more personal and comfortable experience. You can make transactions right at your very own home or through your Internet capable mobile phones. Internet banking has truly revolutionized the way banking is done today. Aside from the ease it offers, it also minimizes the downtimes and the frustrations in the banking industry. It even lessens the work of the bank personnel at the branch, therefore, allowing better service for their in-branch clients.

How is Internet banking done? Easy. You just go to the website of your bank and enroll your account for their online service. After which you have to set a username and password, as you would a normal email sign-up. You will then receive a confirmation of the activation of your account and presto, banking starts with a click. You are now ready to access your account details online

Accessing your accounts online will allow you to view your current balances, transfer funds, view and request statements, order checkbooks, and do a whole lot more of interactive banking. You can even pay your bills online or have it automatically debited from your account at a regular interval.

If you are worried of possible hackers hacking your account and transferring your money to their account, forget it. Internet banking transactions are done through a secure line where data is encrypted during the process. By encrypting the data, details of your bank account is converted into a set of codes that would not to seem to be anything understandable.

With the introduction of Internet banking to the public, it surely saves the effort of traditional banking. It even paves the way for more innovative banking practices that saves more than half the time it will take when transacting the traditional way. It also gives you the flexibility to manage your accounts even when you are miles away from home. One distinct advantage over traditional banking.

Switzerland is an economically advanced and prosperous nation, with a gross domestic product (GDP) higher than that of some larger western European nations. In addition, the value of the Swiss franc (CHF) has been relatively stable compared to that of other currencies. In 2003, the financial sector comprised an estimated 14% of Switzerland’s GDP and employed approximately 180,000 people (110,000 of whom work in the banking sector); this represents about 5.6% of the total Swiss workforce.

Swiss neutrality and national sovereignty, long recognized by foreign nations, have fostered a stable environment in which the banking sector was able to develop and thrive. Even though it is near Europe’s geographical centre, Switzerland maintained neutrality through both World Wars; is not a member of the European Union or the European Economic Area; and was not even a member of the United Nations until 2002.

Currently an estimated one-third of all funds held outside their country of origin (sometimes called "offshore" funds) are kept in Switzerland. In 2001 Swiss banks managed US$ 2.6 trillion. The following year it handled US$400 billion less which has been attributed to both a bear market and stricter regulations on Swiss banking.

The Bank of International Settlements, an organization that facilitates cooperation among the world’s central banks, is headquartered in the city of Basel. Founded in 1930, the BIS chose to locate in Switzerland because of the country’s neutrality, which was important to an organization founded by countries that had been on both sides of World War I.

Nearly everyone has access to some sort of account with which to conduct the regular business of banking. Access to a financial institution’s accounts and other services is often taken for granted. The advantages of banking can become clearer if you review some of the basics. This is even more relevant if you happen to be one of the few that have yet to open a checking or savings account with their local bank. You not only need to know what sort of obvious advantages a bank offers, such as the different features that are available to customers, but also how these relate to you particular needs. Everyone would agree that one of the basic reasons bank accounts exist is to provide a place to put one’s money to keep it safe. While images like stuffing your mattress with money may seem humorous to most of us, there have been times when people have done just that with the money they earned. In other situations, people might carry cash on their persons. The danger with either situation is that if money is stolen or lost, it cannot be replaced. Thus, using a banking service like an account is a good way to protect your assets. Equally important is the fact that most people who are employed receive paychecks that can be redeemed for cash at banks. Of course, banks have a common policy that requires them to charge a fee for the cashing of someone’s paycheck. This may not seem very important since the fees are generally very small. Yet, even a small fee can amount to something over time. The advantage to having a bank account with a local bank is that those fees will be waived if you keep an account with them. Those same banking institutions also provide features that provide convenient use of accounts whether you want to establish a checking account and use checks to pay bills rather than cash or if you wish to obtain a debit card that can be used in the place of money. Both of these options provide easy access to your funds without being on the premises, physically withdrawing the funds from your checking or savings account.

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