Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Problem Statement

Investment Banking is a very crucial issue in the financial sectors throughout the world. But, till
now, investment banking is quite a less popular & intricate concept to a large number of people in
Bangladesh. The aim is to find out whether there is any practice or prevalence of investment
banking activity in Bangladesh or not. If there is such activity or practice, the performance needs
to be measured in a meticulous form. Also, future prospects of investment banking in Bangladesh
need to be explored through such analysis of the dissertation.

1.2 Scope of the Study

The scope of this dissertation would be to focus the Merchant banking activity of Bangladesh that
actually somehow represents the investment banking activity of Bangladesh. Also, some other
financial institutions practicing other investment banking areas would also get included within
this research dissertation.

1.3 Objective of the Study

The prime objective is to find out the practice of investment banking in the Merchant Banks &
other organizations of Bangladesh. It also includes to find out whether the firms are performing
fiduciary roles for their clients or they are rather exploiting them adversely. Subject to getting the
above scenario, we will try to recommend some steps for a better investment banking climate in
Bangladesh.

1.4 Limitations of the Study

Key Limitation of the report is the availability of aggregate data of Bangladesh Merchant Banks.
No such data is available in Bangladesh even though there is a separate association of merchant
bankers in Bangladesh. Another limitation is the study is limited to Bangladesh perspective only
whereas South-Asian scenario could have been portrayed for a better comparison.

I also faced some difficulty collecting data of the renowned merchant banks as they were a bit
reluctant to provide some data about their company. This hindered my process of analysis due to
lack of some crucial data.