What Makes a Merchant Bank Ideal?

David Senra describes merchant banks as an ideal combination of efficient and unbureaucratic. A customer calls on a Friday afternoon needing 200,000 pounds. The banker picks up the other phone, writes the transaction in three minutes, hangs up, and goes on with the day.

No one outside the family knows how the truly important decisions are made, and another family asks why anyone would let daylight upon the magic. Partners open every letter in the morning and show it to all partners. There are very few papers and no files. They carry most information in their heads. Risks are assessed, opinions exchanged, and solutions found in quiet conversation, not after long speeches and committee meetings. There is no chain of command, and no matters are cleared through channels. Two people who can make the decision talk directly, without a secretary calling another secretary the way directors do in super bureaucracies.

Relationships run the world. An old customer and friend still gets help when money is tight, because the bankers do not take advantage of him. They are very jealous of their name. The name of the merchant banker builds a magic bridge between buyer and seller. The buyer and the seller may not trust one another, but they trust the banker.