Equity capital markets is a highly-valued area within investment banking.

Global coordinator and bookrunner roles in large IPOs bring lucrative fees to those investment banks executing these deals.

Regulation and technology are already bringing change with unconnected analysts being given greater prominence in UK IPOs.

However, initial coin offerings will have an enormous impact on the traditional origination and distribution capabilities of equity capital markets.

There are two major challenges facing equity capital markets (ECM) bankers and traditional sell side franchises:

• Direct Listings may replace traditional IPO offerings for privately held companies.
• Initial coin offerings are an entirely new means of raising capital embedded into new technology.

This is also coinciding with the implementation of MiFID II and unbundling, which will inevitably lead to reshaping of research coverage and sales distribution.