Book excerpt: Underwriting Services and the New Issues Market integrates practice, theory and evidence from the global underwriting industry to present a comprehensive description and analysis of underwriting practices. After covering the regulation and mechanics of the underwriting process, it considers economic topics such as underwriting costs and compensation, the pricing of new issues, the stock price and operating performance of issuing firms, the evaluation of new issue decisions, and an analysis of the many choices issuers face in structuring new issues. Unlike other books, it systematically develops a critical perspective about underwriting practices, both in the U.S. and international markets, and with a level of detail unavailable elsewhere and an approach that reveals how financial institutions deliver underwriting services. Underwriting Services and the New Issues Market delivers an innovative and long overdue look at security issuance. Foreword by Frank Fabozzi - Covers underwriting contracts and arrangements on pricing and costs - Focuses on the financial consequences of the issuance decision for the firm - Describes and evaluates decisions regarding the features and structure of new security offerings.