RBC a BB now? Thoughts!

bump

RBC is one of the 20 or so primary dealers...which makes them a BB

If DB and UBS are considered BB by industry convention, and RBC's capabilities blow them out of the water..... At some point you have to give them some credit for having a damn solid platform.

One transaction does not a BB make, but one can't deny being sole advisor on a $66 bn transaction is just another push up the totem pole.

No, it's not, no matter how many RBC Analysts come on here and say it is.

It's a solid shop with upward momentum but look at the league tables across all products and geographies. It's the top shop in Canada, a solid MM shop in the US and pretty much non-existent outside of North America. End of story.

Not a BB per se yet, however, management is definitely setting goals to become one in the near future (thing 1-2 years). They are investing massively in the IB division. Half the people from the FIG group (MDs-directors-VPs) in New York are hires from Deutsche bank (at RBC since 2017). RBC is working on becoming a major bank in the US as they are already leaders in Canada.

RBC is a good bank with a solid IB practice but.. can you really say it competes with GS/MS/JPM/Citi/BAML? Maybe once it cracks Top 10 in league tables across multiple continents

There’s no question they compete well with the traditional BBs in North America (particularly in leveraged finance), but I think we get a little bit too caught up here in the US with how things are going locally. All BB banks have a global presence with substantial operations across multiple business lines in not only N.A. but EMEA and APAC as well. I think until RBC has a material foothold in those regions it would be tough to classify them as a BB.