A contract between a group of investment bankers who form an underwriting group or syndicate, and the issuing corporation of a new securities issue. The underwriting agreement contains the details of the transaction, including the underwriting group's commitment to purchase the new securities issue, the price that the underwriting group will pay to the issuing corporation and the initial resale price.

The underwriting agreement can be considered the contract between a corporation issuing a new securities issue and the underwriting group that has agreed to purchase and then resell the issue for a profit. The purpose of the underwriting agreement is to ensure that all of the players understand their responsibility in the process, thus minimizing potential conflict.