There are about 5,500 member firms of the National Association of Securities Dealers that make a business of being full service providers for companies that are trying to raise investor capital. For small, private companies these investment banks generally charge both a monthly fee (retainer) and performance fee based on a percentage of the assets raised. A general guide to the size of the fees is known as the Lehman formula:

	*	5% of the first million dollars involved in the transaction.
	*	4% of the second million dollars involved in the transaction.
	*	3% of the third million dollars involved in the transaction.
	*	2% of the fourth million dollars involved in the transaction.
	*	1% of everything above four million dollars.

When paying performance-based fees companies should be careful about whether their investment banker is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 states:

Section 15(a)(1) It shall be unlawful for any broker or dealer which is either a person other than a natural person or a natural person not associated with a broker or dealer which is a person other than a natural person (other than such a broker or dealer whose business is exclusively intrastate and who does not make use of any facility of a national securities exchange) to make use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce to effect any transactions in, or to induce or attempt to induce the purchase or sale of, any security (other than an exempted security or commercial paper, bankers' acceptances, or commercial bills) unless such broker or dealer is registered in accordance with subsection (b) of this section.

The Securities and Exchange Commission does take legal action against individuals that that act as "unregistered brokers". A list of these legal actions can be found at the following web site. A list of investment bankers associated with the NASD can be found at this web site.