Quarter-end balance sheet preparations are exacerbating the phenomenon, even as the world's central banks continue to pump cash into the banking system.

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In the end a healthy balance sheet and steady profits were what matter, he said soothingly.

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Senator Kaufman: You can say under oath that GS never engaged in transactions near quarter end to improve their balance sheet?

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To that end, several off-balance-sheet entities were set up.

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The agency is gathering information from 11 major banks about their activities involving repos, an accounting technique that Lehman used to move billions of assets off its balance sheet each quarter end, and which the examiner claims deliberately masked the true nature of its leverage.

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Only 40% of its balance-sheet at the end of 2009 was funded by equity and deposits.

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According to those minutes, several FOMC members thought the new round of asset purchases and balance sheet expansion might be ended by the end or even before the end of 2013 while interest rates would presumably remain on the floor much longer.

FORBES: Allow Interest Rates To Rise While Keeping Monetary Policy Accommodative

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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