Role in the International Market of Lazard Bank

For many years, investment bankers remained outside of the media spotlight. "Bankers" were typically associated with large commercial and retail banks, but investment bankers were often privately owned and funded, and tended to focus on local rather than international customers. There were some exceptions to this. The same advances in telecommunications and transportation that led to the burgeoning global economy in the last quarter of the twentieth century also affected the financial services industry. Mergers and acquisitions led to consolidations in the industry and companies that once focused on local interests expanded their sights to the international market. This came about both as a reaction to the globalization efforts undertaken by customers of these institutions as well as the recognition that there is a market niche that was underserved. This research considers the Lazard investment banking organization and its current role in the international market.

IS INVESTMENT BANKING GLOBAL OR LOCAL?

The last quarter of the twentieth century saw a significant change in the investment banking industry. Consumers·including governments and corporations·became more sophisticated, capital became more global, and the economic environment changed significant with the introduction of a single currency in much of Western Europe, currency crises in Asia and other financial shocks. As a resu

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s seek to work together, but the company has developed a single vision and functional demarcations for its business units that should help it overcome these challenges ("Our History," 2005). Using a functional organizational structure allows the company to take full advantage of the expertise that it has developed in key areas. Lazard has targeted specific industries and specific activities within those industries and developed expertise to facilitate its customers demands. Thus it is well-versed in the power industry and positioned to help a customer sell power plants. It is also able to use its expertise in mergers and acquisitions to facilitate the acquisition of Maytag, a noted American appliance manufacturer, and the merger of US Airways and America West ("Airlines'," 2005). Lazard has focused on its internal structure over the past year as it has prepared to go public, a move which was completed in early May 2005. Until now, the company was not subject to external scrutiny by investors, and it built a thriving business in part because of the discretion that it was able to maintain by being privately held. There are distinct advantages with being publicly traded, however, and when Lazard went public, it did so having r
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Approximate Word count = 1732
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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