On top of that, HTA maintains a conservative balance sheet, with total leverage of only 31% at the end of the third quarter.

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This is the proposal that the biggest UK banks should have enough capital, plus loans that could be converted into capital, to cope with losses equal to one-fifth of the size of their total balance sheet.

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So Mr Shimpi tells his clients to overcome their preoccupation with the debt-equity ratio and to concentrate instead on the underlying issues: how much capital does the company need, and how much should be on and off the balance sheet to minimise its total cost?

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Chicago-based Exelon, which covers the Northeast and Midwest, also has a solid balance sheet in an indebted industry, with total debt at 65% of capital.

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Louis Fed president James Bullard has been a proponent of varying the rate of asset purchases to reflect the level of accommodation, while in the past Bernanke has said the total size of their balance sheet, rather than its rate of change, determined the level of monetary easing.

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This is roughly equal to one-third of the net assets on the balance sheet, and 10% more than the total market capitalization of the company.

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Its balance sheet is strong, with a 19% debt to total value based on its first quarter 2010 numbers.

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