OFF BALANCE SHEET BANK INSTRUMENTS
T. Wheadon Moscow 1994
HISTORY Of SPECIFIC TYPES OF CREDIT INSTRUMENTS.
The issuance of bank (credit) instruments dates back to the early days of “banking” when private
wealthy individuals used their capital to support various trade orientated ventures. Promissory
Notes, Bills of Exchange, Bankers Acceptances and Letters of Credit have all been part of daily
“bank” business for many years.
There are three types of Letters of Credit which are issued on a daily basis, these are:
Documentary Letters of Credit, Standby Letters of Credit and Unconditional Letters of Credit or (
The issuance of a “Letter of Credit” usually takes place when a bank customer (Buyer) wishes to
buy or acquire services from a third party (Seller). The Buyer will cause his bank to issue a Letter
of Credit that guarantees the payment to the Seller via the Sellers bank, conditional against
certain documentary requirements. In other words, when the Seller via his bank presents certain
documents to the Buyer’s bank the payment will be made. These documentary requirements vary
from transaction to transaction, however the normal types of documents will usually comprise of:
- Invoice from the Seller (usually in triplicate)
- Bill of Lading from Shipper
- Certificate of Origin (from the Seller)
- Insurance documents (to cover goods in transit)
- Export Certificate (if goods for export)
- Transfer of Ownership (from the Seller)
These documents effectively “guarantee” that the goods were “sold” and are “en- route” to the
Buyer. The Buyer is secure in the fact that he has “bought” the item or service and the Seller is
secure in the fact that the Letter of Credit, which was delivered to him prior to the loading or
release of the goods will “Guarantee” payment if he complies to the terms of the Letter of Credit.
This type of transaction takes place every day throughout the world in every jurisdiction, without
any fear the issuing bank will “honor” its obligations, provided the bank is of acceptable stature.
The letter of credit is issued in accordance with procedures recognized by the Bank for
International settlements (BIS) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and is subject
to the uniform rules of collection for Documentary Credits (ICC 400 1983).
This type of instrument is normally a Documentary Letter of Credit (“DLC”) and is always trade or
transaction related with an underlying sale of goods or services between the applicant (Buyer)
and the beneficiary (Seller).
During the evolution of the trade related Letters of Credit a number of institutions began to issue
Standby Letters of Credit (SbLC). These credit instruments were effectively a surety or guarantee
that, if the applicant (buyer) failed to pay or perform under the terms of the transaction the bank
would take over the liability and pay the beneficiary (Seller).
In the United States banks are prohibited by regulation from providing formal guarantees and
instead offer these instruments as functional documents equivalent to a guarantee.
A conventional Standby Letter of Credit (CSbLC) is an irrevocable obligation in the form of a
Letter of Credit issued by the bank on behalf of its customer. If the bank’s customer is unable to
meet the terms and conditions of his contractual agreement with a third party, the issuing bank is
obligated to the third party (as stipulated in the terms of the (CSbLC) on behalf of its customer. A
CSbLC can be primary (direct draw on the bank) or secondary (available in the event of default
by the customer to meet the underlying obligation)
Recent innovations were made in International Banking in 1986, prepared by a study group
established by the Central Banks of the Top Ten Countries and published by the Banks for
As these Standby Letters of Credit were effectively contingent liabilities based upon the potential
formal default or the technical default of the applicant, they were held “off balance sheet” in
respect to banks accounting principles.
This type of Letter of Credit is referred to in the market place as a “3039” format. This number is
not found as a specific bank document (ICC 400 1983) reference but is purported to be a federal
court docket reference number related to a law suit involving such an instrument, of which no
details are available.
Much has been written in recent times about mis-use and mis-information about these forms and
references to ICC, by the Commercial Crime Bureau and the ICC to which I shall later refer in
During the period when SbLC’s were being used, the banks and their customers began to see the
profitable situation created by the “off Balance Sheet” positioning of the instruments. In real terms
the holding of the Standby Letter of Credit was attributed as a contingent liability and as such was
held off the balance sheet and therefore is an unregulated area of banking activity.
Due to constraints being imposed on the banks by regulatory bodies and Government control the
use of these “off balance sheet items” as a financial tool, to effectively adjust the capital asset
ratios of the banks was seen to be a prudent and profitable method of staying within the
regulations and yet a method whereby they can achieve a desired capital position.
At the request of Central Bank Governors of the Group of The Top Ten Countries, a study group
in early 1985 was established to examine recent innovations operating or effecting the conduct of
The study group carried out extensive discussions with international, commercial and investment
banks most active in the market with these financial instruments. The purpose was to:
• Improve Central Bank’s knowledge of these instruments and their markets, as the situation
existed in the second half of 1985.
• To provide a foundation for considering their implications on the stability and the functioning of
international financial institutions, markets and monetary policy.
• And better understand banks’ financial reporting and statistical reporting of international financial
Alongside this work, the Basil Supervisors Committee had undertaken a study of the prudential
aspects of banking innovations and the reporting by the management of banks about off-balance-
sheet exposure. Their supervisory implications was published by the Committee in March 86.
The growth of these instruments can be attributed mainly to the same factors affecting the trend
toward securitisation, with two additional influences.
• Firstly, bankers have been attracted to off-balance-sheet business because of constraints
imposed on their balance sheets, notably regulatory pressure to improve capital ratios, and
because they offer a way to improve their rate of return earned on assets.
Secondly, and for similar reasons banks have sought ways to hedge interest rate risks without
inflating balance sheets as would occur with the use of the inter-bank market.
This view is supported by the findings of a study group established by the Central Banks of the
Group of The Top Ten Countries and published by the Banks for International Settlements, April
WHY SHOULD AN INSTRUMENT BE ISSUED?
To understand the logic behind the actual mechanics of the operation it is necessary to look at
the way in which a bank operates. The bank’s credit rating and therefore status within society is
judged by the size of the bank and its capital asset ratio. The bank list its real assets and its cash
position, including deposit securities, etc. against its loans, debits and other liabilities which
shows a ratio of its liquidity. Each jurisdiction of the world banking system has different minimum
capital adequacy requirements and depending on the status of the individual bank, the ratio of
cash over assets, which the bank can be allowed to trade may be as high as 20 times the
minimum capital requirement of the bank.
In simple terms, for every $100 held on deposit in asset capital, the bank can lend or obligate at
least $1,000 to other clients or institutions against the cash on hand.
The money placed on deposit by the bank’s customers is dealt with in a different manner to the
actual cash reserves or assets of the bank.
• If a bank disposes of an asset, the resultant capital is able to be “leveraged” using the bank’s
multiplier ratio, based on the minimum capital adequacy requirement of the bank.
To bring all of this into focus and to identify the application of points on the matter in the question
at hand, we now make the following overview:
• A bank receives an indication from a client that the client is willing to “buy” from the bank, a one
year zero obligation coupon, effectively unsecured by any of the physical assets of the bank. The
credit instrument is based solely on the “faith of and credit worthiness of the bank”.
Obviously the format of the credit instrument must be one which is acceptable in any jurisdiction,
freely transferable, able to be settled at maturity in simple terms and is without restrictions, other
than its maturity conditions.
• The instrument that immediately comes to mind is the Documentary Letter of Credit or Standby
Letter of Credit. However as the issue is not trade or transaction related, most of the terms and
conditions do not apply. The simple answer to this is the “London Short Form” version of the
Standby Letter of Credit. The text is specific and does not contain any restrictions, except the
time when the credit is valid and can be presented for payment.
• It is in real terms a time payment instrument, due on or after one year and one day from the
date of issue, usually valid for a period of fifteen days from the date of maturity.
• Standby Letters of Credit also serve as a substitute for the simple “first demand guaranty”. In
practice the Standby Letter of Credit functions almost identically to the first demand guaranty.
Under both the beneficiary’s claim is made payable on demand and without independent
evidence of its validity. The two devices are both security devices, issued in transactions not
directly involving the sale of goods and they create the same type of problems.
• There was a paper written on the subject [Standby Letters of Credit. Does the Risk Outweigh the
Benefits] published by the Colombian Business Law review 1988.
EXAMPLE OF THE OPERATION.
• The blank piece of paper, which is technically an asset of the bank, values at, say, 2 cents, is now
“issued” and the text is added to this 2-cent sheet of paper (document), stating the value of the
document is, say, $10 Million dollars face value, duly signed and sealed by the authorized bank
• The question now is, what is the piece of paper worth? 2 cents, or 10 Million dollars, bearing in
mind that the paper is completely unsecured by any tangible or real asset. In reality it has a
perceived value of $10 Million dollars in 366 days time, based upon the “full faith of and credit
worthiness of the issuing bank”.
• The next question which now must be answered is ”will the bank honor its obligation when
the bank note is or credit is presented for payment?” This will of course depend upon the
reputation of the and the credit worthiness of the issuer.
• If having arrived at the belief that the value of the document is $10 Million Dollars in 366 days
time, the “Buyer” must negotiate a price or a discount, which is acceptable to the bank to cause it
to “sell the credit”.
• To arrive at the sale price one must consider the accounting ramifications of the sale. The liability
is $10 Million dollars payable “next year”.
• It is important to know that the reasons for the one year and one day period, is to carry the liability
into the next financial year, no matter when during the year the credit was issued.
• The liability is held “off-balance” sheet and therefore is a contingent liability, as it is not based
upon any asset.
• On the other side of our model transaction, the bank is to receive cash from the “sale of an asset”
and this cash is classified as capital assets, which are in turn subject to the ratio multiplier
mentioned earlier, of say 10 times.
• So in real terms the issuing bank is to receive 80% of the face value of the document upon its
sale cash in hand against a forward liability of $10 Million payable in one year and one day’s
time. The actual contingent liability will now be $2 Million. The cash received, $8 Million allows
the bank to lend ten times this amount, $80 Million, under the capital adequacy rules.
• So the $80 Million is able to lend “on balance sheet” against normal securities, such as real
estate and other real collateral.
• If the interest rate is 8% simple and the loans are short term, say one year, to coincide with the
liability, the income and return (without taking into account the principle sums loaned) from
interest alone is equal to $6,400,000.
• At the end of the year, the credit is due for payment against the cash on hand and the interest
received, in other words, $8 Million plus $6.4 Million totals to $14.4 Million dollars, deduct the
$10 Million and there is a profit of $4.4 Million or 44%, plus the full value of the loan amounts
The reason for issuing the credit is now obvious, the resultant yield is well over the given discount
and the bank is in a profitable position, without risk. They obtain a greater asset yield than by any
conventional means ever devised.
It seems there is an underlying reason which must also be expressed if the overview of the whole
system is to be complete. To simplify the explanation a flow chart has been added showing the
roles of each entity. The detailed information in the flow chart contained herein obtained from the
“Federal Pool”. The individual responsible shall remain unnamed however. To understand the
system one must take a view which cannot be supported by physical evidence and is vehemently
denied by all banking circles, but is evidenced by the actual occurrences of events.
• Most people are not aware that the Federal Reserve Bank, for instance, is not a Federal
Government entity or body, “it is in fact a private institution” even though it may appear to act
in a quasi-governmental manner, but it is still under the control of private individuals.
• If one assumes the money supply requirements for a specific period shows a need to print say
US$100 Million dollars in new issue currency, and the US Treasury and the The Federal
Reserve Bank is required to issue same , the impact of the release of those “new Dollars” in
terms of inflation and market effect is quite strong.
• If however the US Treasury though the Federal Reserve Bank were asked to forward “sell”
those Dollars for “cash” the amount of the “new Dollars” today is reduced to whatever amount is
• If we take the case in question, suppose the Federal Reserve Bank had “contracted” with a
major world bank to “issue” Dollar denominated one year paper in the amount of $100 Million
and “sold” this paper through a “secure network” of entities so that the “sale” did not appear ”on
market” and that the “sale” was at a discount of say 80% of the face value.
The cash yield back to the US Treasury would be $80 Million against a Dollar credit of the same
amount to the issuing bank with the bank taking a $100 Million liability position at maturity date.
• The US Treasury has now received $80 Million in cash back from the market system and need
only print $20 Million to meet the current obligation to the money supply. This is a 20% of the
original amount and as such, its impact on the system is greatly reduced. Of course if the amount
“sold” is greater than the money supply requirement, the US Treasury has a reduction which
allows lower interest rates to be maintained and or controlled.
• The long term position is not affected as the bank has taken on the liability, not the US
Government, the Dollar credit is classed as “cash” for the purpose of capital adequacy and is not
required to be physically “printed” as such, a simple ledger entry is sufficient.
• The off market issue and sale of bank credit instruments is controlled by simple supply and
demand techniques, and all US Dollar denominated paper is issued through the Federal Reserve
To do this the Federal Reserve Bank enters into an agreement with the US Treasury and the
Top 100 World Banks, excluding State operated banks, American banks, with the exclusion of
Morgan Guaranty, Third World banks and any other bank which may have capital/credit
problems. An updated list of participating banks is attached (based upon Bankers Almanac)
which totals some 65 banks.
Each bank agrees to allow the Federal Reserve Bank to issue on its behalf a specific amount of
US Dollar denominated paper or the alternative, the Federal Reserve Bank allocates a specific
amount to each bank. The details are of course not published and no physical evidence has ever
been made available to the writer. In any case the result is that a specific volume of paper is
available and the Federal Reserve Bank is now able to release it on demand.
The various bank paper is “pooled” together to give the total position for each year, and it is from
the “Federal Pool” that the supply contracts are issued. The existence of the Federal Pool is not
confirmed. However various documents have been sighted, including GNMA transfer documents
and they contain a “Pool Number”.
• The “Grand Master collateral contracts” which one hears about are effectively issued by the
Federal Pool. It is indicated that these contracts are usually issued in amounts of $500 Million
units, with each minimum denomination being $100 Million. In other words, the minimum order is
$500 Million, in $100 Million tranches. research has indicated that the “cost” or deposit for one of
these contracts is $100 Million cash. This obviously reduces the number of entities who are able
• One point that should be raised at this time is, although the market place and issue of these
instruments is “unregulated”, the banks are effectively controlled by the BIS and self imposed
rules, otherwise the whole system would be subject to possible manipulation and abuse by a
bank or group of banks entering into a form of “insider trading”. The long term effect would be
detrimental to the system itself.
• The entities who are holders of “Grand Master collateral contracts” are commonly referred to as
“cutting houses” as they usually reduce the size of the denomination from $100 Million to as little
as $10 Million. They in fact “cut down the size of the note” hence the term “cutting house”.
• The “cutting houses then in turn “sell” delivery commitments to wholesale brokers, the cost of
which is approximately $2.5 to $10 Million in “cash”.
• In both cases the cash payment or deposit are able to be called upon, if an order is not met or
paid for on time, the contract holder would lose his contract and be “blacklisted” in the system to
prevent any new contract position. The rules are very simple, cash payment at all times for all
notes ordered, this is a cash driven industry “not credit”.
It is assumed by the writer that each cutting house would normally issue about 50 delivery
commitments, or “sub-master commitments” at 2.5 Million each. Therefore their deposit of $100
Million is now covered plus a reserve of $25 Million. This is very similar to the activities of post
betting where odd are “laid off” to reduce exposure.
• The wholesale brokers are responsible to feed the volume of instruments to the clients or
customers who are at the retail or at the retail distribution level, and subsequently to the
• The issuing banks can be identified as the manufacturers of this product, in their case the product
is bank paper. The Federal Reserve Bank can be identified as the importer (80%) The Federal
Pool can be identified as the storage warehouse (82.5%) for all the product prior to sale and is
responsible for the bulk release to regional distributors (85%) who are responsible for the release
of units to the local distributor. The wholesale broker can be identified as the local wholesaler
(87.5%) who releases units on demand to the retail showrooms (89%). The public buyer exists in
the secondary market (92-94% ) such as pension funds and the like. Middle East (Muslim) client
banks (to buy on the secondary market is not considered as contrary to the rule).
• They hold the instruments until maturity and gain the preferred yield from the discount against the
face value of (100%) from the issuing banks.
• The biggest problem encountered in obtaining hard copy evidence is the contradictory and
unusual attitude of the banks on this matter. When any attempts are made to obtain definitive
documents or undertakings, the very existence of these instruments has been denied at senior
levels by bank officials. In fact the entity who provided the source of the information which made
this document possible has personally received requests to purchase these very instruments from
the same bank who denies they exist.
Also the regulatory position of these instruments creates a problem for any regulated body to
participate. How can an unregulated item be handled by a regulated body!
In the opinion of the writer, based on the data gained to date that the main reason for all the
mystery and the misinformation is quite simple, this is a sophisticated form of financial
engineering and it makes normal accounting principles a complete mockery and exposes the
banking industry for what it really is. While they portray and image respectability principles and
integrity not far under this veneer exterior the banking industry literally thrive corruption and
In reality the whole system is flawed and has involved in such a complex way that nobody really
fully understands it, we base our daily life on a “paper house”. Nothing has really changed since
the very first money transactions or even earlier. “I’ll swap you two blue shells for three red ones
and I’ll give you three reed shells for your XYZ goods”. The whole of the monetary system is
based on “perceived value” including currencies, credit and day to day life.
A Bank Note issued on the Bank of England is basically an unsecured “Promissory Note” payable
on demand. it’s face value is it’s perceived value, if the word demand was changed to a future
date of say, one year and one day, the perceived value has now been reduced to cover the “cost
of money” for the period.
If we were to discuss the value of a single $50.00 dollar note the value “today” would be
approximately $45.00 dollars. However if we wish to discount the present value of several million
of these notes it is reasonable to expect that the wholesale buyer would expect a better price.
The note however, still has a perceived value of $50.00 dollars and a present value of $45.00
Very little cash is used in the day to day operation of business, mostly usually it is in the form of
ledger or paper entries. Even when a private bank account is being used, over 89% of the
transactions are “paper driven, not cash”. A cheque is a Promissory Note either unsecured or
guaranteed by the bank, up to a certain limit (cheque guarantee card). If the bank draft is
“purchased” the draft is still unsecured but is perceived to be a 100% guarantee of payment.
The current trend toward “plastic and electronic banking” is an indication of the future and based
purely on the amount of business which takes place daily. The banks can no longer cope with
physical “paper” and need to reduce each transaction to a simple ledger entry. The end result
being less “money” and more “business”.
The use of these instruments as a medium for short term investments is obvious, if one takes the
differential between the invoice price and the “present value” and moves a client into and out of
the instruments and a regular basis the effective yield is substantial.
The downside risk is nil if one retains strict protocol over the potential purchases with a worst
case scenario of the fact that a client would either, not transact and therefore not be at risk. if an
instrument has been purchased and for whatever reason could not be onwards “sold or
discounted” the client would automatically achieve a substantial yield based on the maturity value
against the “invoice price”.
The preceding document is a summary of the circumstances and evidence which has been
presented and is based purely on the same, as received, no representation is made or implied as
to the legal position of the information contained herein or for any resultant losses, if incurred as a
result of the use of any of the referred information.
Any potential investor or participant, is advised to seek independent legal and/or financial advice
before involvement in this kind of investment. The preceding information is considered to be
confidential and is not to be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the writer.
List of Participating Banks
No Name of Bank Country
1 Sumitomo Bank Japan
2 Dai-Ichi-Kangyo Bank Japan
3 Sanwa Bank Japan
4 Union Bank of Switzerland Switzeland
5 Credit Agricole France
6 Mitsui-Taiyo-Kobe Bank Japan
7 Fuji Bank Japan
8 Barclays Bank UK
9 Mitsubishi Bank Japan
10 National Westminster Bank UK
11 Deutsche Bank Germany
12 Cerdit Lyonnais France
13 Industrial Bank of Japan Japan
14 Banque Nationale de-Paris France
15 Swiss Banking Corp Switzerland
16 ABN-Amro Bank Holland
17 Compagnie Financiere de-Paris France
18 Tokai Bank Japan
19 Long Term Credit Bank of Japan Japan
20 Rebobank Holland
21 Bank of Tokyo Japan
22 Dresdner Bank Germany
23 Credit Suisse Switzerland
24 Society Generale Bank France
25 Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corp Japan
26 Hong Kong Bank Hong Kong
27 Sumitomo Trust and Banking Japan
28 Commerzbank Switzerland
29 Lloydes Bank UK
30 Midlands Bank UK
31 Royal Bank of Canada Canada
32 Westpac Banking Corp Australia
33 Commonwealth Bank of Australia Australia
34 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commere Canada
35 Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Sweden
36 DG Bank Germany
37 Mitsui Trust & Banking Japan
38 Kyowa Bank Japan
39 Diawa Bank Japan
40 Nippon Credit Bank Japan
41 Yaguda Trust & Banking Japan
42 Satarna Bank Japan
43 Westdeutsche Landerbank Girozenirale Germany
44 Bayerische Hypotheken & Weschel Bank Germany
45 Bayerische Veriensbank Germany
46 Den Danske Bank Denmark
47 Toronto Dominion Bank Canada
48 NNB Postbank Group Holland
50 Union Bank of Finland Finland
51 ANZ Banking Corporation Australia
52 Bank of Motreal Canada
53 Creditstanstait-Bankverein Austria
54 Bank of Nova Scotia Canada
55 The Royal Bank of Scotland UK
56 Svenska Handelbanken Sweden
57 Toyo Trust & Banking Japan
58 First National Bank of America USA
59 Morgan Gauranty USA
The above list is by no means comprehensive, but gives a general idea of the scope of the
operations carried out by the banking system on a world scale.
Showing Result of a Typical Transaction
80% of face value $80 Million USD
Cash Received from
Issuing Bank 100 Mil Sale $80 Million USD
$USD Face Value Plus ($20 Million USD)
Series Of 1 Year Loans for the Amount of
Ten Times,(10 X ) The Capital Asset Sold
At $80 Million or $800 Million USD Lent to Others at 8%
Total Cash on Hand After One Year is
$80 Million USD Plus Interest from loans
$64 Million USD or $144 Million USD
Amount Payable on the Letter of Credit
at the end of One year $100 Million USD
GROSS YIELD ON THE TRANSACTION
IS $44 MILLION USD
The Principal Amount of $80 Million USD is Still Payable if the
loans are not Extended.
showing The Distribution Network Between Participants
From the top100.&
Federal Reserve Bank, The US Morgan Guaranty.
Treasury & the World Banks enter Sumitomo Japan
US Government into agreement to allow the F.R.B to
issue on their be-
half a specific amounts of $US ANZ Australia
denominated paper, or the Federal Westpac Australia
Reserve bank allocates Deutche Germany
US Federal Treasury
Credit Lyonnais Fra
Lloyds Bank Uk
US Federal Reserve Bank Abn Amro Holland
Bank paper as agreed Discounted Union Bank Finland
to 80% of FV Bank Montrial Canada
Federal Pool Svenska Handelsbank
Stores Paper 82.5% en Sweden Etc....
Issues various Supply Third World Banks
Contracts & State Banks are not
participants however Morgan
The various Bank Paper is pooled Guaranty are in the program
together giving the total position even though a State Bank
Master Contracts of
Grand Master Contacts given $500 Million USD, In $100
to select group Million USD Units
They cut down the size of the Discounted to 85%
note and sell delivery
commitments to wholesale
Wholesalers & Brokers
Contract for $100 Million USD
In $10 Million USD Units
The Secondary market hold
the instruments until
maturity and gain the
preferred yield from the
discount against 100% of
The Secondary Market
Pension Funds and Middle East Muslim Clients Etc.