Assessing the Financial Performance of Investment Banks in Pakistan During the Current Financial Crisis

Abstract

Investment banks play a vital role in the economic development of a country through their impact on capital and money markets. In developing countries, they promote and support business investors in bringing about economic stability. The investment banking industry faced significant challenges as a result of the financial crisis in 2008. This study presents a detailed financial analysis of the recent performance of seven investment banks in Pakistan for the period 2007–11 with the help of financial ratios. The banks were assessed across several perspectives: profitability, efficiency, liquidity, leverage, and other financial measures such as institution size. Our findings show that all banks faced a significant squeeze on profitability, although the smaller banks performed better overall. This implies that successful performance does not necessarily depend on economies of scale.