A qualified institutional buyer (or QIB), in law and finance, is a purchaser of securities that is deemed financially sophisticated and is legally recognized by security market regulators to need less protection from issuers than most public investors. Typically, the qualifications for this designation are based on an investor's total assets under management as well as specific legal conditions in the country where the fund is located. Currently, Rule 144A requires an institution to manage at least $100 million in securities from issuers not affiliated with the institution to be considered a QIB. Additionally, if the institution is a bank or savings and loans thrift they must have a net worth of at least $25 million.
Certain private placements of stock and bonds are made available only to qualified institutional buyers to limit regulatory restrictions and public filing requirements.
Famous quotes containing the words qualified and/or buyer:
“Let’s face it. With the singular exception of breast-feeding, there is nothing about infant care that a mother is innately better qualified to do than a father. Yet we continue to unconsciously perpetuate the myth that men just don’t have what it takes to be true partners in the process.”
—Michael K. Meyerhoff (20th century)
“I suppose that one of the psychological principles of advertising is to so hammer the name of your product into the mind of the timid buyer that when he is confronted with a brusk demand for an order he can’t think of anything else to say, whether he wants it or not.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)