What's in a Name? Merchants, Merchant Bankers, Accepting Houses, Issuing Houses, Industrial Bankers and Investment Bankers

Abstract

The subject of this article is the terminology of the merchant banking industry over the last century and a half. It identifies when and why the terms ‘merchants’, ‘merchant bankers’, ‘accepting houses’, ‘issuing houses’, ‘industrial bankers’ and ‘investment bankers’ came into use, and in some cases fell into disuse. The pattern of terminological usage is related to phases in the evolution of the activities and prosperity of the industry. Explanations are advanced for the shift in the generic term from ‘merchants’ to ‘merchant bankers’ around the turn of the century, and for the multiplicity of overlapping terms in the era from World War I to the 1960s. It is speculated that ‘merchant bankers’ will be supplanted by ‘investment bankers’ in the not too distant future.