What are bank liabilities?

Sources of funds that banks use to purchase income-earning assets.

What are checkable deposits?

Bank accounts allowing owners to write checks; payable on demand; lowest-cost source of bank funds.

What are nontransaction deposits?

Primary source of bank funds; cannot write checks but pay higher interest.

Types of nontransaction deposits?

Savings accounts and time deposits (small- and large-denomination CDs).

What are large-denomination time deposits (CDs)?

Negotiable deposits ≥ $100

What are borrowings for banks?

Funds from the Fed

What is bank capital?

Bank’s net worth (assets – liabilities); cushion against asset losses.

What are reserves?

Deposits at the Fed + vault cash; include required and excess reserves.

What are required reserves?

Portion of checkable deposits banks must hold by regulation.

What are excess reserves?

Additional reserves held for liquidity protection.

What are cash items in process of collection?

Claims on other banks for checks deposited but not yet cleared.

What are deposits at other banks?

Deposits small banks hold at large banks for services (correspondent banking).

What are securities for banks?

Debt instruments held by banks; provide ~10% of revenue; include U.S. government

What are secondary reserves?

Short-term U.S. government securities with high liquidity.

What are loans?

Primary income source; less liquid

What are other assets?

Physical capital like buildings and equipment.

What is asset transformation?

Process of selling liabilities with certain characteristics to buy assets with different ones.

What is a T-account?

Simplified balance sheet showing changes in assets and liabilities.

What happens when a bank receives deposits?

Reserves increase by the same amount; when deposits fall

What are deposit outflows?

Withdrawals causing loss of deposits.

What are the four key management areas?

Liquidity, asset, liability, and capital adequacy management

What are the main bank risks?

Credit risk and interest-rate risk.

If reserves are insufficient what four actions can banks take?

1. Borrow from other banks; 2. Sell securities; 3. Borrow from the Fed; 4. Reduce loans.

Why hold excess reserves?

Insurance against costs of deposit outflows.

What are the 4 strategies for asset management?

1. Lend to good borrowers; 2. Buy high-return

What is liability management?

Acquiring funds at low cost and managing both sides of balance sheet (via ALM committee).

Why do banks hold capital?

1. Prevent failure; 2. Affect returns to owners; 3. Meet regulatory requirements.

Define ROA.

Net profit after taxes per dollar of assets.

Define ROE.

Net profit after taxes per dollar of equity capital.

Define equity multiplier (EM).

Assets per dollar of equity capital.

Relationship between ROE

ROA

What’s the trade-off in bank capital?

More capital → safer but lower ROE; less capital → riskier but higher ROE.

What is adverse selection?

High-risk borrowers are more likely to seek loans.

What is moral hazard?

Borrowers may take actions that increase risk after receiving a loan.

How do banks manage credit risk?

Screening

What is credit rationing?

Refusing loans or limiting loan size even at higher interest rates.

What is interest-rate risk?

Risk of earnings loss due to rate changes.

What is gap analysis?

Measures difference between rate-sensitive assets and liabilities: (RSA – RSL) × Δi = change in profits.

What is duration analysis?

Examines sensitivity of asset and liability market values to rate changes using weighted average duration.

What are off-balance-sheet activities?

Financial transactions affecting profits but not balance sheet (e.g.

What are loan sales?

Selling cash streams from loans to remove them from the balance sheet.

Examples of fee income?

Foreign exchange trades, servicing MBS, guarantees, backup credit lines.

Why are off-balance-sheet activities risky?

They increase exposure to credit and market risks without being recorded as assets/liabilities.