Unlike privately owned rivals Jenny Craig and Curves, which maintain their own centers-cum-food stores, Weight Watchers keeps its capital costs to a minimum by allowing its meetings to be held anywhere.

FORBES: The Fat of the Land

All models were required to have a body mass index -- a ratio of height and weight -- above 18, the minimum limit considered healthy by the World Health Organization.

CNN: Young models dying to be skinny

In the credit-risk area, the weight attached to mortgages looks likely to drop by 30-50%, cutting the minimum capital requirements of banks specialising in home loans.

ECONOMIST: Bothersome Basel