If they uncover hidden liabilities, the government will cut the price accordingly (by up to 2 billion koruna).

ECONOMIST: Czech banking

There is a problem, however, if somebody else buys the funeral home and fails to account for all those hidden liabilities.

FORBES: Buried Trouble

One who is sceptical is Gustavo Franco, a former central-bank president, who points out that many states and cities still have big hidden liabilities, for example, in their pension schemes.

ECONOMIST: Progress and pitfalls in Brazil��s public finances

Ireland, a fellow euro zone peripheral that is also in trouble, has no major hidden liabilities left in its banking system, with pretty much everything now out in the open (as far as we know).

FORBES: Spain, Portugal And A Virtuous Circle Of Bailouts

There is also increasing concern about the growth in hidden fiscal liabilities.

ECONOMIST: Britain's budget

Banco Fator, the investment bank advising the government on the sale, insists that adequate provision has been made for any remaining bad debts, plus any liabilities for staff pensions, tax arrears and other hidden horrors that often come to light when a Brazilian company is sold.

ECONOMIST: Brazilian banks

Historic liabilities have to be honoured (and properly accounted for, rather than hidden off the government's balance-sheet).

ECONOMIST: The public sector unions