Equity Capital Markets (ECM) — Investment Banking Mock Interview
Practice IPO process mechanics, offering structures, SPAC dynamics, and advanced deal execution across two difficulty levels.
Preview This Mock Interview
60-second preview — upgrade to Diamond for full sessions
Key Topics Covered
IPO Process & Bookbuilding
Covers the four phases from bake-off through pricing night, the role of the lead left bookrunner in managing the order book and allocation, the Red Herring prospectus and why the final price is excluded, and shelf registrations for accelerated follow-on offerings.
Greenshoe Mechanics & Aftermarket Stabilization
Walks through the exact share flow of the overallotment option in both rising and falling markets, explaining how the 15 percent oversale creates a self-correcting mechanism where the bank either exercises the option or buys shares in the open market to support the price.
SPAC Structures & Alternative Listings
Explores the SPAC sponsor promote and its 20 percent dilution, redemption rights creating capital structure uncertainty, the role of PIPE transactions as cash backstops, and how SPACs compare to traditional IPOs and direct listings from the issuer perspective.
Convertible Bonds & Anti-Dilution Provisions
Explains how convertibles allow companies to effectively sell equity at a 30-40 percent premium, the bond floor as downside protection, and the critical difference between full ratchet and weighted average anti-dilution provisions in down-round scenarios.
Block Trades, Rights Issues & Deal Execution
Covers overnight block trade mechanics where the bank buys as principal at a discount and resells to institutions, rights issue TERP calculations showing value neutrality for exercising shareholders, modern lock-up variations with early release triggers, and IPO discount rationale balancing risk premium with aftermarket quality.
How to Prepare for Equity Capital Markets (ECM) Interviews
Be prepared to trace the complete greenshoe share flow in both up and down markets. The advanced session shows this is a key differentiator, as most candidates know the greenshoe exists but cannot explain the naked short position and how it self-corrects through either option exercise or open-market buying.
Practice the rights issue math including TERP calculations. The advanced session walks through a detailed example proving that a 40 percent discount is value-neutral for shareholders who exercise, and interviewers use this to test whether candidates understand the mechanics beyond the alarming headline discount.
Understand the full ratchet versus weighted average anti-dilution distinction and be able to explain why full ratchet is extremely punitive to founders. The sessions emphasize this as a critical concept for anyone working in ECM, particularly on convertible or VC-related deals.
Prepare a structured comparison of IPOs versus SPACs versus direct listings, covering certainty of valuation, cost structure, timeline, and investor base quality. The advanced session presents this as a common capstone question that requires balanced analysis of each path.
More Capital Markets Topics
View allDebt Capital Markets (DCM)
Covers foundational debt capital markets (dcm) concepts for capital markets interviews. Discusses key products, market mechanics, and introductory technical questions.
Leveraged Finance (LevFin)
Covers foundational leveraged finance (levfin) concepts for capital markets interviews. Discusses key products, market mechanics, and introductory technical questions.
Structured Finance
Covers foundational structured finance concepts for capital markets interviews. Discusses key products, market mechanics, and introductory technical questions.
Corporate Derivatives
Covers foundational corporate derivatives concepts for capital markets interviews. Discusses key products, market mechanics, and introductory technical questions.
About This Equity Capital Markets (ECM) Mock Interview
These sessions cover the complete ECM knowledge base, from the four-phase IPO process and Red Herring mechanics through primary versus secondary offerings, greenshoe stabilization, pre-money and post-money valuation, lock-up periods, and the equity financing lifecycle from angel to IPO. The advanced session extends into detailed greenshoe share flow mechanics, firm commitment versus best efforts structures, SPAC promotes and redemption dynamics, convertible bond floor valuation, full ratchet versus weighted average anti-dilution provisions, rights issue TERP calculations, block trade execution risk, IPO discount rationale, and modern lock-up variations including early release triggers and tranche structures.
This topic is part of the Capital Markets section of our investment banking mock interview library. It includes 2 sessions covering both basic and advanced difficulty levels. Each session includes multi-speaker audio with realistic interviewer questions and candidate responses, plus a full interactive transcript you can follow along with or study independently.
Audio Recording
39 minutes of multi-speaker audio
Full Transcript
Interactive transcript with timestamps
1 Basic + 1 Advanced
Basic & Advanced
200K+ students have used IB Vine to help land offers at top firms.
Analyst
The IB Vine technical prep is beyond helpful, it's so much more fun quizzing myself every now and then vs. reading through the guides again.
Analyst
I personally found that the 'IB Vine Select' collection had some of the exact questions I was asked in my Qatalyst interviews.
Analyst
Thanks for starting up IB Vine. Couldn't have landed my offer without your help!
User Story
I honestly think you're doing gods work since IB Vine democratizes the whole interview process and helps a lot of students ace their interviews.
Analyst
I found this website really helpful, which also helps me better prepare for the technical interview in IBD position and get an offer.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
Check out IB Vine, specifically the 'IB Vine Select' questions. Once you can get a handle of those, it seems like you are in a spot where you're applying the concepts rather than simply memorizing them
Analyst
I've used IB Vine for my recruitment, and I could not imagine the journey without it. Thank you for creating a phenomenal resource.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
Beyond the 400 questions guide, try to understand a deeper level and the underlying concepts of the questions being asked. Use ibvine, it really helps.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
IB Vine has excellent questions, especially multistep ones. In my experience I've gotten grilled on accretion/dilution, bond math, and merger model questions. IB Vine has great practice for all of those.
User Story
As a nontraditional transfer student who has been rendered unavailable to many resources at my university (Leadership positions at clubs, immediately behind the recruiting cycle, etc.) IB Vine has been an absolute game changer in my IB prep.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
From my experience interviewing FT for IB, it’s not enough to just know the 400 questions anymore (it’s a good starting point) but to look at even more advanced questions. Would recommend IB Vine.
Seen on Twitter
heard all the new kids use IB Vine now. the questions on IB Vine helped me get the concepts down when I had to recruit and make a lot of BB/MM interviews easier than I expected for techs
User Story
Just got off the phone with a kid who interned at a Dallas PE firm. He mentioned that IB Vine helped him secure that internship as well as his Summer Analyst offer, especially since he came from a non-target with no resources.
Analyst
The IB Vine technical prep is beyond helpful, it's so much more fun quizzing myself every now and then vs. reading through the guides again.
Analyst
I personally found that the 'IB Vine Select' collection had some of the exact questions I was asked in my Qatalyst interviews.
Analyst
Thanks for starting up IB Vine. Couldn't have landed my offer without your help!
User Story
I honestly think you're doing gods work since IB Vine democratizes the whole interview process and helps a lot of students ace their interviews.
Analyst
I found this website really helpful, which also helps me better prepare for the technical interview in IBD position and get an offer.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
Check out IB Vine, specifically the 'IB Vine Select' questions. Once you can get a handle of those, it seems like you are in a spot where you're applying the concepts rather than simply memorizing them
Analyst
I've used IB Vine for my recruitment, and I could not imagine the journey without it. Thank you for creating a phenomenal resource.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
Beyond the 400 questions guide, try to understand a deeper level and the underlying concepts of the questions being asked. Use ibvine, it really helps.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
IB Vine has excellent questions, especially multistep ones. In my experience I've gotten grilled on accretion/dilution, bond math, and merger model questions. IB Vine has great practice for all of those.
User Story
As a nontraditional transfer student who has been rendered unavailable to many resources at my university (Leadership positions at clubs, immediately behind the recruiting cycle, etc.) IB Vine has been an absolute game changer in my IB prep.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
From my experience interviewing FT for IB, it’s not enough to just know the 400 questions anymore (it’s a good starting point) but to look at even more advanced questions. Would recommend IB Vine.
Seen on Twitter
heard all the new kids use IB Vine now. the questions on IB Vine helped me get the concepts down when I had to recruit and make a lot of BB/MM interviews easier than I expected for techs
User Story
Just got off the phone with a kid who interned at a Dallas PE firm. He mentioned that IB Vine helped him secure that internship as well as his Summer Analyst offer, especially since he came from a non-target with no resources.
Analyst
The IB Vine technical prep is beyond helpful, it's so much more fun quizzing myself every now and then vs. reading through the guides again.
Analyst
I personally found that the 'IB Vine Select' collection had some of the exact questions I was asked in my Qatalyst interviews.
Analyst
Thanks for starting up IB Vine. Couldn't have landed my offer without your help!
User Story
I honestly think you're doing gods work since IB Vine democratizes the whole interview process and helps a lot of students ace their interviews.
Analyst
I found this website really helpful, which also helps me better prepare for the technical interview in IBD position and get an offer.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
Check out IB Vine, specifically the 'IB Vine Select' questions. Once you can get a handle of those, it seems like you are in a spot where you're applying the concepts rather than simply memorizing them
Analyst
I've used IB Vine for my recruitment, and I could not imagine the journey without it. Thank you for creating a phenomenal resource.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
Beyond the 400 questions guide, try to understand a deeper level and the underlying concepts of the questions being asked. Use ibvine, it really helps.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
IB Vine has excellent questions, especially multistep ones. In my experience I've gotten grilled on accretion/dilution, bond math, and merger model questions. IB Vine has great practice for all of those.
User Story
As a nontraditional transfer student who has been rendered unavailable to many resources at my university (Leadership positions at clubs, immediately behind the recruiting cycle, etc.) IB Vine has been an absolute game changer in my IB prep.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
From my experience interviewing FT for IB, it’s not enough to just know the 400 questions anymore (it’s a good starting point) but to look at even more advanced questions. Would recommend IB Vine.
Seen on Twitter
heard all the new kids use IB Vine now. the questions on IB Vine helped me get the concepts down when I had to recruit and make a lot of BB/MM interviews easier than I expected for techs
User Story
Just got off the phone with a kid who interned at a Dallas PE firm. He mentioned that IB Vine helped him secure that internship as well as his Summer Analyst offer, especially since he came from a non-target with no resources.
Analyst
The IB Vine technical prep is beyond helpful, it's so much more fun quizzing myself every now and then vs. reading through the guides again.
Analyst
I personally found that the 'IB Vine Select' collection had some of the exact questions I was asked in my Qatalyst interviews.
Analyst
Thanks for starting up IB Vine. Couldn't have landed my offer without your help!
User Story
I honestly think you're doing gods work since IB Vine democratizes the whole interview process and helps a lot of students ace their interviews.
Analyst
I found this website really helpful, which also helps me better prepare for the technical interview in IBD position and get an offer.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
Check out IB Vine, specifically the 'IB Vine Select' questions. Once you can get a handle of those, it seems like you are in a spot where you're applying the concepts rather than simply memorizing them
Analyst
I've used IB Vine for my recruitment, and I could not imagine the journey without it. Thank you for creating a phenomenal resource.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
Beyond the 400 questions guide, try to understand a deeper level and the underlying concepts of the questions being asked. Use ibvine, it really helps.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
IB Vine has excellent questions, especially multistep ones. In my experience I've gotten grilled on accretion/dilution, bond math, and merger model questions. IB Vine has great practice for all of those.
User Story
As a nontraditional transfer student who has been rendered unavailable to many resources at my university (Leadership positions at clubs, immediately behind the recruiting cycle, etc.) IB Vine has been an absolute game changer in my IB prep.
Seen on WallStreetOasis
From my experience interviewing FT for IB, it’s not enough to just know the 400 questions anymore (it’s a good starting point) but to look at even more advanced questions. Would recommend IB Vine.
Seen on Twitter
heard all the new kids use IB Vine now. the questions on IB Vine helped me get the concepts down when I had to recruit and make a lot of BB/MM interviews easier than I expected for techs
User Story
Just got off the phone with a kid who interned at a Dallas PE firm. He mentioned that IB Vine helped him secure that internship as well as his Summer Analyst offer, especially since he came from a non-target with no resources.
Mock Interview Library
Unlock All Mock Interviews
Upgrade to Diamond for full access to all 93 mock interview sessions with complete audio and interactive transcripts.