Cloth merchant in the context of Merchant banker

Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher.

A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage, it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodities, particularly cloth merchants. Historically, merchant banks' purpose was to facilitate or finance the production and trade of commodities, hence the name merchant. Few banks today restrict their activities to such a narrow scope.

In modern usage in the United States, the term additionally has taken on a more narrow meaning, and refers to a financial institution providing capital to companies in form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advice on corporate matters to the firms in which they invest.

Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, commonly known as Berenberg Bank and also branded as simply Berenberg, is a German multinational full-service private and merchant bank headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. It is considered the world's oldest merchant bank.

It was founded around 1590 by Hans and Paul Berenberg, refugees from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium). Their descendants, the Berenberg and Gossler families, belonged to the ruling elite of Hanseatic merchants of the city-republic of Hamburg and several family members served in the city-state's government from 1735. Like many other merchant bankers, the Berenbergs were originally cloth merchants. The company involved itself in shipping, whaling and ship insurance from the late 19th century, and in extensive trade with colonial goods imported from the Americas and Asia. By the early 19th century the company was one of Northern Europe's leading sugar merchants. During the 18th and 19th centuries the company focused increasingly on financial services. The company's name refers to Johann Berenberg, his son-in-law Johann Hinrich Gossler and the latter's son-in-law L.E. Seyler, and has remained unchanged since 1791. The bank has operated continuously since 1590 and is still part-owned by members of the Berenberg-Gossler family.

The Berenberg family (Dutch for "bear mountain") was a Flemish-origined Hanseatic family of merchants, bankers and senators in Hamburg, with branches in London, Livorno and other European cities. The family was descended from the brothers Hans and Paul Berenberg from Antwerp, who came as Protestant refugees to the city-republic of Hamburg following the Fall of Antwerp in 1585 and who established what is now Berenberg Bank in Hamburg in 1590. The Berenbergs were originally cloth merchants and became involved in merchant banking in the 17th century. Having existed continuously since 1590, Berenberg Bank is the world's oldest surviving merchant bank.

The Berenberg banking family became extinct in the male line with Elisabeth Berenberg (1749–1822); she was married to Johann Hinrich Gossler, who became a co-owner of the bank in 1769. From the late 18th century, the Gossler family, as owners of Berenberg Bank, rose to great prominence in Hamburg, and was widely considered one of Hamburg's two most prominent families, along with the related Amsinck family. A branch of the family was later ennobled by Prussia as Barons of Berenberg-Gossler (Hamburg was a free imperial city and had no nobility). Several members of the Berenberg and Gossler families served in the Senate of Hamburg from 1735, and Elisabeth Berenberg's grandson Hermann Gossler became head of state of the city-republic. Richard J. Evans describes the family as one of Hamburg's "great business families." The Gossler Islands in Antarctica are named for the family. Elisabeth Berenberg and Johann Hinrich Gossler presently have descendants with names including Berenberg-Gossler, Paus, Bernstorff and other names.