PSBs eye M&A market but face talent, pay and regulatory hurdles ahead

Banks planning to enter this line of business need to prepare on several fronts, from raising payouts and hiring specialised talent to navigating potential governance challenges

Mint Road’s draft on “commercial banks: capital market exposure”, has set the stage for a high-stakes business opportunity — financing of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by banks. Thus far restricted to collateral-backed lending, it will call for rewiring banks (once operational guidelines are issued) when they step into the trade. 

Now link this with another year-ender: The bonuses in the investment banking (i-banking) circuit in India. It is small compared with the many millions that dealmakers in the global capital markets take home, but Santa does come visiting out here too — payouts run into a few crores. 

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