A group of
underwriters responsible for placing a certain amount of a new
issue with
investors. Brackets are arranged in a hierarchy, which indicates how much of an issue each bracket is placing with respect to the others. The brackets are called, from largest to smallest: bulge bracket, major bracket, minor bracket, underwriter, selling group. The second largest bracket is sometimes called the mezzanine bracket. Brackets are listed in order of size on an advertisement detailing each new issue, known as the
tombstone.