“The shadow currency in question comes in the form of bankers’ acceptance notes, or BANs, paper issued by banks that are, in some cases, as good as cash. BANs, which are essentially IOUs in the form of bank checks, are being used as a form of ‘wildcat’ currency to increasingly finance speculation as banks and corporations alike are running short of cash. The issuance of BANs has more than doubled to 1.6 trillion yuan ($261 billion) from 636 billion yuan a year ago. State-owned banks love them because stringent statutory requirements force them to maintain high loan-to-deposit ratios, but since BANs are recorded off the books, they can increase their leverage without appearing at risk.”
Related posts:
Obamacare's broken website cost more than LinkedIn, Spotify combined
Mass. Drug Testing Fraud Leaves Tens Of Thousands Imprisoned
History Repeats: CIA Files Reveal US Aided Saddam’s Chemical Attacks
Reports: Speeding Not A Cause Of Child Accidents
Illinois Teacher Retirement System Is Broke
90+ Arrests of DC Cops Past 4 Years
Beating Obamacare: Hospitals Across Borders
FBI Software For Analyzing Fingerprints Contains Russian-Made Code
Entire School District Shuts Down — Out of Money
Obama’s Lies, NSA Spies, and the Sons of Liberty
Jim Rogers On Investing in North Korea, Zimbabwe and much more
Facebook Deleting Accounts at the Direction of the U.S. and Israeli Governments
Capital Controls and a Bank Holiday in Greece
Keiser Report: Gold, Silver, Bitcoin FTW! (E527)
The New Normal: Boston Bombing Suspect Interrogated Without Counsel