But the SEC and others had never considered what might happen if the bank was unable to borrow from trading partners, even using loans secured by high-quality assets.

FORBES: What We Learned From Bear

These loans are secured on Mr Ebbers's personal assets, including a yacht-sales company, a soyabean farm, and nearly 27m WorldCom shares.

ECONOMIST: From bad to worse | The

Last week, Hargreaves Services, a coal-mining and logistics company based in Durham, bought the debt linked to secured assets that belonged to another big Scottish coal producer ATH, which was forced into administration in December.

BBC: Colliery

But owning fund-management groups is not without pitfalls, because they have no tangible assets against which debt can be secured.

ECONOMIST: Fund management