Investment Banking interview preparation

Questions

100

Traced to a firm

100

Firms

46

Updated

September 2026

Asked at

All firmsTSTruist Securities10Rothschild & Co8Centerview Partners7CSCredit Suisse7HWHarris Williams6Houlihan Lokey6Lazard6Mizuho6Barclays5Citi5Deutsche Bank5Evercore5Moelis & Company5MSMorgan Stanley5Piper Sandler5RCRBC Capital Markets5Goldman Sachs4Nomura4TD Securities4Bank of America3GSGuggenheim Securities3J.P. Morgan3Jefferies3Moody's3Perella Weinberg Partners3WPWarburg Pincus3WBWilliam Blair3HSBC2Lincoln International2Scotiabank2TPTPG2UBS2Wells Fargo Securities2Advent International1Apollo Global Management1Bain Capital1Balyasny Asset Management1BLBlackRock1BPBNP Paribas1General Atlantic1Invesco1Morningstar1PIMCO1STSociété Générale1SSState Street1WMWellington Management1

Topic

All topicsAccounting14Valuation21M&A10Markets and deals10Capital markets3LBO8Leveraged finance3Restructuring2Credit3Debt capital markets2Capital structure2Case and estimation11Brainteasers6Fit5

Level

AnyCoreIntermediateHard

Type

AnyTechnicalCaseBrainteaserFitMarket view

1. 067Walk me through the syndication process.Debt capital marketsIntermediatetechnicalScotiabankDebt Capital Markets · New York · 2026

   Say this

   The arranging bank commits to the borrower, then sells the loan down to other lenders. Underwrite and mandate, prepare the information memorandum and ratings, launch to a lender group, build the book, then allocate, close and fund.

   Then walk it

   1. Mandate and structure: the bank agrees the terms and either underwrites, meaning it guarantees the full amount and takes the risk of selling it, or arranges on a best-efforts basis.
   2. Preparation: build the information memorandum and the model, get ratings from the agencies if it is a rated deal, and agree the credit agreement terms with the borrower.
   3. Launch: a bank meeting or lender call presents the credit. Then a commitment period, usually one to two weeks, during which institutional investors submit orders at a price.
   4. Price discovery and flex: if the book is undersubscribed the arranger uses flex language to widen pricing or tighten terms. If it is oversubscribed they tighten. This is the part that makes underwriting risky.
   5. Allocation, documentation, closing and funding. Then the paper trades in the secondary market, which is where the loan's price is discovered from then on.
   6. The risk that matters commercially: in an underwritten deal, if the market gaps between commitment and syndication, the bank is left holding paper it has to sell at a loss. That is hung debt, and it is why underwriting fees exist.

   Where candidates lose it

   Describing it as a simple sequence and missing flex and underwriting risk. The commercial substance of syndication is who bears the market risk between commitment and sell-down. Name flex language and hung debt.

   Expect next

   • Tell me about the two different types of loans in the broadly syndicated loan market.
   • What is market flex?
   • What happens if the deal does not clear?

   Reported by candidates at Scotiabank (Debt Capital Markets, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

2. 068Tell me about the two different types of loans in the broadly syndicated loan market.Debt capital marketsHardtechnicalScotiabankDebt Capital Markets · New York · 2026

   Say this

   Pro rata and institutional. Pro rata is the revolver and the amortising term loan A, held mostly by banks. Institutional is the term loan B, bullet maturity, sold to CLOs and credit funds.

   Then walk it

   1. The pro rata tranche is the revolving credit facility plus term loan A. Banks take both together, because the revolver is a relationship product that generates ancillary business and is often undrawn.
   2. Term loan A amortises over five to seven years and prices tighter, because banks accept lower spread for the relationship.
   3. The institutional tranche is term loan B: minimal amortisation, usually one percent a year, bullet at maturity in seven years, floating rate over a benchmark like SOFR with a floor.
   4. Term loan B buyers are CLOs, loan mutual funds and credit funds. They want yield and duration, not relationship, so they price purely on credit and market conditions.
   5. The reason the split exists: the two buyer bases want completely different things. Banks want short duration and ancillary revenue; institutional investors want long floating-rate paper they can lever inside a CLO. Structuring a deal means giving each what it wants.

   Where candidates lose it

   Confusing term loan A and term loan B, or not knowing who buys each. The buyer base is the actual content of this question. If you can name CLOs as the dominant term loan B buyer, you sound like you work in the market.

   Expect next

   • Who buys term loan B, and why does that matter for pricing?
   • What is a CLO?
   • What are the different types of accounts in a CLO new issue settlement?

   Reported by candidates at Scotiabank (Debt Capital Markets, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

Firm tags come from public, anonymous candidate reports on Wall Street Oasis: strong signal, not sworn testimony. Firms are named as the places a question was reported, not as partners of Fin Maverick. Answers are written for this page to show how to think out loud; they are not scripts to recite.