Back in 2001, along with most investors, the agencies were slow to catch on to the fact that energy giant Enron was hiding massive liabilities off of its balance sheet.

回溯至2001年，评级机构同大多数投资者一样没能及时发现能源巨头安然在其资产负债表中隐瞒大笔负债的事实。

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Lehman exploited a loophole in accounting rules to sell assets, getting them off its balance sheet even as it was obligated to repurchase them a short while later.

雷曼利用了一个会计规则漏洞，出售资产，并把这些资产从自身资产负债表中移除，尽管在不久后雷曼有义务回购这些资产。

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The report singles out Lehman as one of the last Wall Street institutions to engage in "repo" deals aimed at moving assets off its balance sheet.

报告指出，华尔街有些机构利用所谓“回购”交易，把资产转出资产负债表；雷曼就是其中之一。

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So were the company's links with the obscure off-balance-sheet partnerships that were subsequently to trigger its downfall.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Since the eruption of the Enron scandal, Andersen has borne the brunt of an outsized portion of criticism for the company's failure because it certified as fair and accurate Enron's financial reporting--including its use of off balance sheet partnerships to disguise the level of Enron's true indebtedness.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Yet regulators (such as Consob, which regulates Italy's stockmarket) and sophisticated financial institutions not only failed to spot the trouble, but also let it get worse, overseeing a spiral of debt issuance and off-balance-sheet deals that allowed Parmalat to keep up its pretence.

ECONOMIST: Parmalat