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Fractional-reserve banking



 
 
Fractional-reserve banking is the banking practice in which bank
Bank

A bank is a financial institution whose primary activity is to act as a payment agent for customers and to borrow and lend money. It is an institution for receiving, keeping, and lending money....
s keep only a fraction of their deposits in reserve
Bank reserves

Bank reserves are banks' holdings of deposit accounts in accounts with their central bank , plus currency that is physically held in bank vaults ....
 (as cash and other highly liquid assets) and lend out the remainder, while maintaining the simultaneous obligation to redeem all deposits immediately upon demand. Fractional reserve banking is a necessary consequence of bank lending – when banks lend out a fraction of the deposits that they receive.






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Fractional-reserve banking is the banking practice in which bank
Bank

A bank is a financial institution whose primary activity is to act as a payment agent for customers and to borrow and lend money. It is an institution for receiving, keeping, and lending money....
s keep only a fraction of their deposits in reserve
Bank reserves

Bank reserves are banks' holdings of deposit accounts in accounts with their central bank , plus currency that is physically held in bank vaults ....
 (as cash and other highly liquid assets) and lend out the remainder, while maintaining the simultaneous obligation to redeem all deposits immediately upon demand. Fractional reserve banking is a necessary consequence of bank lending – when banks lend out a fraction of the deposits that they receive. Hence, this practice is universal in modern banking.

History

Prior to the 1800s, savers looking to keep their valuables in safekeeping depositories deposited gold coin
Gold coin

A gold coin is a flat, disc-shaped piece of gold that has been minted and issued by a government or private organization....
s and silver coin
Silver coin

Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Ancient Greeks. Their silver Greek drachmas were popular trade coins....
s at goldsmith
Goldsmith

A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a Goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards....
s, receiving in turn a note
Promissory note

A promissory note, also referred to as a note payable in accounting, is a contract where one party makes an unconditional promise in writing to pay a sum of money to the other , either at a fixed or determinable future time or on demand of the payee, under specific terms....
 for their deposit
Deposit account

A deposit account is a Current account at a banking institution that allows money to be deposited and withdrawn by the account holder, with the transactions and resulting balance being recorded on the bank's books....
 (see Bank of Amsterdam). Once these notes became a trusted medium of exchange
Medium of exchange

A medium of exchange is an intermediary used in trade to avoid the inconveniences of a pure barter system.By contrast, as William Stanley Jevons argued, in a barter system there must be a coincidence of wants before two people can trade ? one must want exactly what the other has to offer, when and where it is offered, so that the exchange...
 an early form of paper money
Paper Money

Paper Money is the second album by the band Montrose . It was released in 1974 and was the last album to feature Sammy Hagar as lead vocalist....
 was born, in the form of the goldsmiths' notes.

As the notes were used directly in trade
Trade

Tradeis the willing exchange of goods, Service , or both. Trade is also called commerce. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter , the direct exchange of goods and services....
, the goldsmiths observed that people would not usually redeem all their notes at the same time, and they saw the opportunity to invest their coin reserves in interest-bearing loans and bills. This generated income
Income

Income, refers to consumption opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings received......
 for the goldsmiths but left them with more notes on issue than reserves to pay them with. A process was started that altered the role of the goldsmiths from passive guardians of bullion, charging fees for safe storage, to interest-paying and interest-earning banks. Thus fractional-reserve banking was born.

However, if creditor
Creditor

A creditor is a party that has a claim to the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property or Service to the second party under the assumption that the second party will return an equivalent property or service....
s (note holders of gold originally deposited) lost faith in the ability of a bank to redeem (pay) their notes, many would try to redeem their notes at the same time. If in response a bank could not raise enough funds by calling in loans or selling bills, it either went into insolvency
Insolvency

Insolvency means the inability to pay one's debts as they fall due.This is defined in two different ways:Cash flow insolvency -: Unable to pay debts as they fall due....
 or defaulted on its notes. Such a situation is called a bank run
Bank run

A bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their Deposit account because they believe the bank is, or might become, insolvency....
 and caused the demise of many early banks.

Benefits of fractional reserve banking

According to the United States' Federal Reserve, fractional reserve banking provides benefits to the economy and the banking system: Thus, fractional reserves are a necessary consequence of bank lending. The fractional reserve system allows banks to act as financial intermediaries – facilitating the movement of funds from savers to investors in a society.

According to many economists, fractional reserve banking benefits the economy by providing regulators with powerful tools for manipulating the money supply and interest rates, which many see as essential to a healthy economy. Additionally, fractional reserve banking provides an easy way for the government to finance its debt, as government debt has historically made up most of the commercial banks' reserves (e.g. in U.S. national and state banks).

How it works

In most legal systems, a demand deposit at a bank (e.g. a chequeing or savings account) or banknote issued by a bank (bank-issued paper money) is considered a loan to the bank (instead of a bailment
Bailment

Bailment describes a legal relationship in common law where physical possession of personal property is transferred from one person to another person who subsequently holds Possession of the property....
), repayable on demand, which the bank uses to finance its investments in loans and interest bearing securities. Banks make a profit based on the difference between the interest they charge on the loan they make, and the interest they pay to their depositors.

The nature of banking lending is such that there will be only a fraction of cash reserves available at the bank available to repay all of the demand deposits and banknotes issued. This results because when the bank lends out money deposited, keeping only a fraction of the total money as a reserve, it essentially creates new money in the account balances of its depositors. The reason people deposit funds at a bank or hold banknotes issued by a bank is to store savings in the form of a demand claim on the bank. One important aspect of fractional-reserve banking is that the note holders and depositors still have a claim to repayment of their funds on demand even though the funds are already largely invested by the bank in interest bearing loans and securities.

Holders of demand deposits can withdraw all of their deposits at any time. If all the depositors of a bank did so at the same time a bank run
Bank run

A bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their Deposit account because they believe the bank is, or might become, insolvency....
 would occur, and the bank would likely collapse. Due to the practice of central banking this is a rare event today, as central banks usually guarantee the deposits at commercial banks, and act as lender of last resort
Lender of last resort

A lender of last resort is an institution willing to extend Credit when no one else will....
 when there is a run on a bank. However, there have been some recent bank runs, the Northern Rock crisis
Northern Rock

Northern Rock Public limited company is a United Kingdom bank, under public ownership from 2008. It is based at Regent Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne in North East England in the United Kingdom....
 of 2007 in the United Kingdom is an example. The collapse of Washington Mutual
Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual, Inc. is a Bank holding company and the former owner of JPMorgan Chase#Washington Mutual, which was the United States' largest savings and loan association....
 bank in September 2008, the largest bank failure in history, was preceded by a "silent run" on the bank, where depositors removed vast sums of money from the bank through electronic transfer. However, in these cases, the banks proved to have been insolvent at the time of the run. Thus, the bank runs merely precipitated failures that were inevitable in any case.

In the absence of crises that trigger bank run
Bank run

A bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their Deposit account because they believe the bank is, or might become, insolvency....
s, fractional-reserve banking usually functions smoothly because at any one time relatively few "at call" depositors will make cash withdrawals simultaneously compared to the total amount on deposit, and a cash reserve can be maintained as a "buffer" to deal with the normal cash demands from depositors seeking withdrawals. In addition, in a normal economic environment, cash is steadily being introduced into the economy by the central bank
Central bank

A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is the entity responsible for the monetary policy of a country or of a group of member states....
, and new funds are steadily being deposited into the commercial banks.

However, if a bank is experiencing a financial crisis, and net redemption demands are unusually large over a period of time, the bank will run low on cash reserves and will be forced to raise new funds from additional borrowings (e.g. by borrowing from the money market
Money market

In finance, the money market is the global financial market for short-term borrowing and lending. It provides short-term market liquidity funding for the global financial system....
 or using lines of credit
Line of credit

A line of credit is any credit facility extended to a business by a bank or financial institution. A line of credit may take several forms such as cash credit, overdraft, demand loan, export packing credit, term loan, discounting or purchase of commercial bills etc....
 held with other banks), and/or sell assets, and/or call in short-term loans to avoid running out of reserves and defaulting on its obligations. If creditors are afraid that the bank is running out of cash or is insolvent, they have an incentive to redeem their deposits as soon as possible before other depositors access the remaining cash reserves before they do, triggering a cascading crisis that can result in a full-scale bank run
Bank run

A bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their Deposit account because they believe the bank is, or might become, insolvency....
.

Money creation


Modern central banking allows multiple banks to practice fractional reserve banking with inter-bank business transactions without risking bankruptcy. The process of fractional-reserve banking has a cumulative effect of money creation by banks, essentially expanding the money supply of the economy.

There are two types of money in a fractional-reserve banking system operating with a central bank:
  1. central bank money (money created or adopted by the central bank regardless of its form (precious metals, commodity certificates, banknotes, coins, electronic money loaned to commercial banks, or anything else the central bank chooses as its form of money)
  2. commercial bank money (demand deposits in the commercial banking system) - sometimes referred to as chequebook money


When a deposit of central bank money is made at a commercial bank, the central bank money is removed for circulation, and an equal amount of new commercial bank money is created. When a loan is made using the central bank money from the commercial bank (which keeps only a fraction of the central bank money as reserves), the money supply expands by the size of the loan.

The table below displays how loans are funded and how the money supply is affected. It also shows how central bank money is used to create commercial bank money from an initial deposit of $100 of central bank money. In the example, the initial deposit is lent out 10 times with a fractional-reserve rate of 20% to ultimately create $400 of commercial bank money. Each bank involved in this process creates new commercial bank money on only a portion of the original deposit of central bank money, ensuring that it always has enough reserves on hand to meet the inter-bank business demands, and also ensuring that multiple banks participate in the inflation process so that all banks are inflating at the same rate.

The process begins when an initial $100 deposit of central bank money is made into Bank A. Bank A then takes 20 percent of it, or $20, and sets it aside as reserves and then loans out the remaining 80 percent, or $80. At this point there is actually a total of $180 in the system, not $100; because the bank has loaned out $80 of the central bank money, kept $20 of central bank money in reserve, and substituted a newly created $80 IOU claim for the depositor that acts equivalent to and can be implicitly redeemed for central bank money (the depositor can transfer it to another account, write a check on it, etc.). These checkbook IOUs are termed commercial bank money and are simply recorded in a bank's register as an asset (specifically, an IOU from the loan recipient) next to the reserves. From a depositor's perspective, commercial money is central bank money--it's impossible to tell the two forms of money apart until a bank run happens (at which time everyone wants central bank money). At this point Bank A still holds $100 of central bank money reserves on its books, but $80 of those reserves are soon going to be needed to satisfy the loan recipient. The loan recipient soon spends the $80. The receiver of that $80 then deposits it into Bank B. Bank B demands $80 of central bank money be delivered from Bank A to Bank B in satisfaction of the loan recipient's check. Bank A now only has $20 of central bank money on its books.

Bank B is now in the same situation as Bank A started with, except it has a deposit of $80 of central bank money instead of $100. Similar to Bank A, Bank B sets aside 20 percent of that $80, or $16, as reserves and lends out the remaining $64, creating $64 of IOUs to its depositors. As the process continues, more commercial bank money is created. To simplify the table, a different bank is used for each deposit. In the real world, the money a bank lends may end up in the same bank so it then has more money to lend out.

Table Sources:
Individual Bank Amount Deposited Lent Out Reserves
A 100 80 20
B 80 64 16
C 64 51.20 12.80
D 51.20 40.96 10.24
E 40.96 32.77 8.19
F 32.77 26.21 6.55
G 26.21 20.97 5.24
H 20.97 16.78 4.19
I 16.78 13.42 3.36
J 13.42 10.74 2.68
K 10.74




Total Reserves:



89.26

Total Amount Deposited: Total Amount Lent Out: Total Reserves + Last Amount Deposited:

457.05 357.05 100





Commercial Bank Money
Created + Central Bank Money:
Commercial Bank Money Created: Central Bank Money:

457.05 357.05 100


Although no new money was physically created in addition to the initial $100 deposit, new commercial bank money is created through loans. The 2 boxes marked in red show the location of the original $100 deposit throughout the entire process. The total reserves plus the last deposit (or last loan, whichever is last) will always equal the original amount, which in this case is $100. As this process continues, more commercial bank money is created. The amounts in each step decrease towards a limit. If a graph is made showing the accumulation of deposits, one can see that the graph is curved and approaches a limit. This limit is the maximum amount of money that can be created with a given reserve rate. When the reserve rate is 20%, as in the example above, the maximum amount of total deposits that can be created is $500 and the maximum amount of commercial bank money that can be created is $400.

For an individual bank, the deposit is considered a liability
Liability

In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a wikt:hindrance, or puts individuals at a disadvantage. It can also be used as a slang term to describe someone that puts a team or group of which they are a member at a disadvantage, and would thus be better off without....
 whereas the loan it gives out and the reserves are considered assets. The deposit will always be equal to the loan plus the reserve, since the loan and reserve are created from the deposit. This is the basis for a bank's balance sheet
Balance sheet

In financial accounting, a balance sheet or statement of financial position is a summary of a person's or organization's balances. Assets, liabilities and ownership equity are listed as of a specific date, such as the end of its financial year....
.

The creation and destruction of commercial bank money occurs through this process. Whether it is created or destroyed depends on what direction the process moves. When loans are given out, the process moves from the top down and money is created. When loans are paid back, the process moves from the bottom to the top and commercial bank money is canceled out, effectively erasing it from existence.

This table gives an outline of the makeup of money supplies worldwide
Money supply

In economics, money supply, or money stock, is the total amount of money available in an economy at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include currency in circulation and demand deposits....
. Most of the money in any given money supply consists of commercial bank money. The value of commercial bank money comes from the fact that it can be exchanged at a bank for central bank money.

This is a general outline of how it works. The actual increase in the money supply through this process may be lower, as (at each step) banks may choose to hold reserves in excess of the statutory minimum, borrowers may let some funds sit idle, and some borrowers may choose to hold cash, and there may be delays or frictions in the process. It may also be higher if the reserve requirement is lower or if there are no reserve requirements. Government regulations may also be used to limit the money creation process by preventing banks from giving out loans even though the reserve requirements have been fulfilled.

Money multiplier

The most common mechanism used to measure this increase in the money supply is typically called the money multiplier. It calculates the maximum amount of money that an initial deposit can be expanded to with a given reserve ratio.

Formula
The money multiplier, m, is the inverse of the reserve requirement, R:

Example

For example, with the reserve ratio of 20 percent, this reserve ratio, R, can also be expressed as a fraction: So then the money multiplier, m, will be calculated as: This number is multiplied by the initial deposit to show the maximum amount of money it can be expanded to.

Reserve requirements

The reserve requirement
Reserve requirement

The reserve requirement is a bank regulation that sets the minimum bank reserves each bank must hold to customer Deposit account and Promissory note....
s are intended to prevent banks from:
  1. generating too much money by making too many loans against the narrow money deposit base;
  2. having a shortage of cash when large deposits are withdrawn (although the reserve is a legal minimum, it is understood that in a crisis or bank run, reserves may be made available on a temporary basis).


The money creation process is affected by the currency drain ratio (the propensity of the public to hold banknotes rather than deposit them with a commercial bank), and the safety reserve ratio (excess reserves
Excess reserves

In banking, excess reserves are bank reserves in excess of the reserve requirement set by a central bank . They are reserves of cash more than the required amounts....
 beyond the legal requirement that commercial banks voluntarily hold—usually a small amount). Data for "excess" reserves and vault cash are published regularly by the Federal Reserve in the United States. In practice, the actual money multiplier varies over time, and may be substantially lower than the theoretical maximum.

Financial ratios

In addition to reserve requirements, there are other required financial ratio
Financial ratio

In finance, a financial ratio or accounting ratio is a ratio of two selected numerical values taken from an enterprise's financial statements....
s that affect the amount of loans that a bank can fund. The capital requirement ratio
Capital requirement

The capital requirement is a bank regulation, which sets a framework on how banks and depository institutions must handle their Capital . The categorization of assets and capital is highly standardized so that it can be risk weighted....
 is perhaps the most important of these other required ratios. When there are no mandatory reserve requirements
Reserve requirement

The reserve requirement is a bank regulation that sets the minimum bank reserves each bank must hold to customer Deposit account and Promissory note....
, the capital requirement ratio acts to prevent an infinite amount of bank lending.

Money supplies around the world

Fractional-reserve banking determines the relationship between the amount of central bank money (currency) in the official money supply statistics and the total money supply. Most of the money in these systems is commercial bank money . Fractional reserve banking involves the issuance and creation of commercial bank money, which increases the money supply through the deposit creation multiplier. The issue of money through the banking system is a mechanism of monetary transmission, which a central bank
Central bank

A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is the entity responsible for the monetary policy of a country or of a group of member states....
 can influence indirectly by raising or lowering interest rate
Interest rate

An interest rate is the price a borrower pays for the use of money they do not own, for instance a small company might borrow from a bank to kick start their business, and the return a lender receives for deferring the use of funds, by lending it to the borrower....
s (although banking regulations may also be adjusted to influence the money supply, depending on the circumstances).

Regulation


Because the nature of fractional-reserve banking involves the possibility of bank run
Bank run

A bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their Deposit account because they believe the bank is, or might become, insolvency....
s, central bank
Central bank

A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is the entity responsible for the monetary policy of a country or of a group of member states....
s have been created throughout the world to address these problems.

Central banks
Government controls and bank regulation
Bank regulation

Bank regulations are a form of government regulation which subject banks to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines....
s related to fractional-reserve banking have generally been used to impose restrictive requirements on note issue and deposit taking on the one hand, and to provide relief from bankruptcy and creditor claims, and/or protect creditors with government funds, when banks defaulted on the other hand. Such measures have included:
  1. Minimum required reserve ratio
    Reserve requirement

    The reserve requirement is a bank regulation that sets the minimum bank reserves each bank must hold to customer Deposit account and Promissory note....
    s (RRRs)
  2. Minimum capital ratios
  3. Government bond deposit requirements for note issue
  4. 100% Marginal Reserve requirements for note issue, such as the Bank Charter Act 1844
    Bank Charter Act 1844

    The Bank Charter Act 1844 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed under the government of Robert Peel, which restricted the powers of British banks and gave exclusive note-issuing powers to the central Bank of England....
     (UK)
  5. Sanction on bank defaults and protection from creditors for many months or even years, and
  6. Central bank support for distressed banks, and government guarantee funds for notes and deposits, both to counteract bank runs and to protect bank creditors.


Liquidity and capital management for a bank

To avoid defaulting on its obligations, the bank must maintain a minimal reserve ratio that it fixes in accordance with, notably, regulations and its liabilities. In practice this means that the bank sets a reserve ratio target and responds when the actual ratio falls below the target. Such response can be, for instance:
  1. Selling or redeeming other assets, or securitization
    Securitization

    Securitization is a structured finance process, which involves Pooling and Security #Repackaging of cash flow producing financial assets into Security that are then sold to investors....
     of illiquid assets,
  2. Restricting investment in new loans,
  3. Borrowing funds (whether repayable on demand or at a fixed maturity),
  4. Issuing additional capital instruments
    Capital requirement

    The capital requirement is a bank regulation, which sets a framework on how banks and depository institutions must handle their Capital . The categorization of assets and capital is highly standardized so that it can be risk weighted....
    , or
  5. Reducing dividends.


Because different funding options have different costs, and differ in reliability, banks maintain a stock of low cost and reliable sources of liquidity such as:
  1. Demand deposits with other banks
  2. High quality marketable debt securities
  3. Committed lines of credit with other banks


As with reserves, other sources of liquidity are managed with targets.

The ability of the bank to borrow money reliably and economically is crucial, which is why confidence in the bank's creditworthiness is important to its liquidity. This means that the bank needs to maintain adequate capitalisation and to effectively control its exposures to risk in order to continue its operations. If creditors doubt the bank's assets are worth more than its liabilities, all demand creditors have an incentive to demand payment immediately, a situation known as a run on the bank.

Contemporary bank management methods for liquidity are based on maturity analysis of all the bank's assets and liabilities (off balance sheet exposures may also be included). Assets and liabilities are put into residual contractual maturity buckets such as 'on demand', 'less than 1 month', '2-3 months' etc. These residual contractual maturities may be adjusted to account for expected counter party behaviour such as early loan repayments due to borrowers refinancing and expected renewals of term deposits to give forecast cash flows. This analysis highlights any large future net outflows of cash and enables the bank to respond before they occur. Scenario analysis may also be conducted, depicting scenarios including stress scenarios such as a bank-specific crisis.

Risk and prudential regulation


In a fractional-reserve banking system, in the event of a bank run
Bank run

A bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their Deposit account because they believe the bank is, or might become, insolvency....
, the demand depositors and note holders would attempt to withdraw more money than the bank has in reserves, causing the bank to suffer a liquidity crisis and, ultimately, to perhaps default. In the event of a default, the bank would need to liquidate assets and the creditors of the bank would suffer a loss if the proceeds were insufficient to pay its liabilities. Since public deposits are payable on demand, liquidation may require selling assets quickly and potentially in large enough quantities to affect the price of those assets. An otherwise solvent bank (whose assets are worth more than its liabilities) may be made insolvent by a bank run. This problem potentially exists for any corporation with debt or liabilities, but is more critical for banks as they rely upon public deposits (which may be redeemable upon demand).

Although an initial analysis of a bank run and default points to the bank's inability to liquidate or sell assets (i.e. because the fraction of assets not held in the form of liquid reserves are held in less liquid investments such as loans), a more full analysis indicates that depositors will cause a bank run only when they have a genuine fear of loss of capital, and that banks with a strong risk adjusted capital ratio should be able to liquidate assets and obtain other sources of finance to avoid default. For this reason, fractional-reserve banks have every reason to maintain their liquidity, even at the cost of selling assets at heavy discounts and obtaining finance at high cost, during a bank run (to avoid a total loss for the contributors of the bank's capital, the shareholders).

Many governments have enforced or established deposit insurance
Deposit insurance

Explicit deposit insurance is a measure introduced by policy makers in many countries to protect deposits, in full or in part, in the event of a Bank run or banks....
 systems in order to protect depositors from the event of bank defaults and to help maintain public confidence in the fractional-reserve system.

Responses to the problem of financial risk described above include:
  1. Proponents of prudential regulation, such as minimum capital ratios, minimum reserve ratios, central bank or other regulatory supervision, and compulsory note and deposit insurance, (see Controls on Fractional-Reserve Banking below);
  2. Proponents of free banking, who believe that banking should be open to free entry
    Free entry

    Free entry is a term used by economists to describe a condition in which :wikt:firm can freely enter the market for an economic good by establishing production and beginning to sell the product....
     and competition, and that the self-interest of debtors, creditors and shareholders should result in effective risk management; and,
  3. Withdrawal restrictions: some bank accounts may place a limit on daily cash withdrawals and may require a notice period for very large withdrawals. Banking laws in some countries may allow restrictions to be placed on withdrawals under certain circumstances, although these restrictions may rarely, if ever, be used;
  4. Opponents of fractional reserve banking who insist that notes and demand deposits be 100% reserved.


Example of a bank balance sheet and financial ratios

An example of fractional reserve banking, and the calculation of the reserve ratio is shown in the balance sheet below:
Example 2: ANZ National Bank Limited Balance Sheet as at 30 September 2007
ASSETSNZ$mLIABILITIESNZ$m
Cash201Demand Deposits25482
Balance with Central Bank2809Term Deposits and other borrowings35231
Other Liquid Assets1797Due to Other Financial Institutions3170
Due from other Financial Institutions3563Derivative financial instruments4924
Trading Securities1887Payables and other liabilities1351
Derivative financial instruments4771Provisions165
Available for sale assets48Bonds and Notes14607
Net loans and advances87878Related Party Funding2775
Shares in controlled entities206[subordinated] Loan Capital2062
Current Tax Assets112Total Liabilities99084
Other assets1045Share Capital5943
Deferred Tax Assets11[revaluation] Reserves83
Premises and Equipment232Retained profits2667
Goodwill and other intangibles3297Total Equity8703
Total Assets107787Total Liabilities plus Net Worth107787


In this example the (legal tender) cash held by the bank is $201m and the demand liabilities of the bank are $25482m, for a (legal tender) cash reserve ratio of 0.79%.

Other financial ratios
The key financial ratio
Financial ratio

In finance, a financial ratio or accounting ratio is a ratio of two selected numerical values taken from an enterprise's financial statements....
 used to analyze fractional-reserve banks is the cash reserve ratio, which is the ratio of cash reserves to demand deposits and notes. However, other important financial ratios are also used to analyze the bank's liquidity, financial strength, profitability etc.

For example the ANZ National Bank Limited balance sheet above gives the following financial ratios:
  1. The (legal tender) cash reserve ratio is $201m/$25482m, i.e. 0.79%.
  2. The central bank notes/balances reserve ratio is $3010m/$25482m, i.e. 11.81%.
  3. The liquid assets reserve ratio is ($201m+$2809m+$1797m)/$25482m, i.e. 18.86%.
  4. The equity capital ratio is $8703m/107787m, i.e. 8.07%.
  5. The tangible equity ratio is ($8703m-$3297m)/107787m, i.e. 5.02%
  6. The total capital ratio is ($8703m+$2062m)/$107787m, i.e. 9.99%.


Clearly, then, it is very important how the term 'reserves' is defined for calculating the reserve ratio, and different definitions give different results. Other important financial ratios may require analysis of disclosures in other parts of the bank's financial statements. In particular, for liquidity risk
Liquidity risk

In finance, liquidity risk is the risk that a given security or asset cannot be traded quickly enough in the market to prevent a loss ....
, disclosures are incorporated into a note to the financial statements that provides maturity analysis of the bank's assets and liabilities and an explanation of how the bank manages its liquidity.

How the example bank manages its liquidity
The ANZ National Bank Limited explains its methods as:

Example 2: ANZ National Bank Limited Maturity Analysis of Assets and Liabilities as at 30 September 2007
 Total carrying valueLess than 3 months3-12 months1-5 yearsBeyond 5 yearsNo Specified Maturity
Assets      
Liquid Assets48074807    
Due from other financial institutions35632650440187286 
Derivative Financial Instruments4711    4711
Assets available for sale4833113 1
Net loans and advances87878927699062414244905
Other Assets4903970179  3754
Total Assets107787183941092225013453438115
Liabilities      
Due to other financial institutions3170235640532377 
Deposits and other borrowings7003053059147262245  
Derivative financial instruments4932    4932
Other liabilities1516131596326013
Bonds and notes1460767243419594  
Related party funding22752275    
Loan capital2062 1001653309 
Total liabilities990846017719668135567464937
Net liquidity gap8703(41783)(8746)11457445973178
Net liquidity gap - cumulative8703(41783)(50529)(39072)55258703


Criticism

The primary criticisms relate to the potential fragility of bank liquidity
Market liquidity

Market liquidity is a business, economics or investment term that refers to an asset's ability to be easily converted through an act of buying or selling without causing a significant movement in the price and with minimum loss of value....
 in a fractional reserve banking environment, the financial risk of bank run
Bank run

A bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their Deposit account because they believe the bank is, or might become, insolvency....
s that depositors bear when depositing money
Money

Money is anything that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts. The main uses of money are as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value....
 with banks, and the impact that demand deposits have on the stock of money, and on inflation
Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. The term "inflation" once referred to increases in the money supply ; however, economic debates about the relationship between money supply and price levels have led to its primary use today in describing price inflatio...
 (that is, the implicit debasement of the currency and its associated impact on the exchange rate). An alternative to fractional reserve banking is making the practice illegal and classifying the practice as a form of embezzlement
Embezzlement

Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets, usually financial in nature, by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
, only permitting full-reserve banking
Full-reserve banking

Full-reserve banking is the banking practice in which the full amount of each Deposit account funds are available in bank reserves when each depositor had the legal right to withdraw them....
. With full-reserve banking, some monetary reform
Monetary reform

Monetary reform describes any movement or theory that proposes a different system of supplying money and financing the economy than the current system....
ers as such as Stephen Zarlenga
Stephen Zarlenga

Stephen A. Zarlenga is director of the American Monetary Institute, an institute dedicated to monetary reform in the United States. He is the author of The Lost Science of Money, a study of monetary history and monetary reform....
 of the American Monetary Institute
American Monetary Institute

The American Monetary Institute is a non-profit charitable trust organized in 1996 for the "independent study of monetary history, theory and reform."...
, support the concurrent issuance of debt-free fiat currency
Fiat currency

Fiat currency is money that exists because an authority or custom declares it to be money. . It achieves value because a government requires it in payment of taxes and says it can be used to pay debt or buy goods and services and because people trust that the value of the currency will be reasonably stable....
 from the Treasury
Treasury

A treasury is any place where the currency or items of high monetary value are kept. The term was first used in Classical antiquity times to describe the votive buildings erected to house Sacrifice, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or many similar buildings erected in Olympia, Greece by competing city-states to impress others during t...
, while others such as Congressman Ron Paul
Ron Paul

Ronald Ernest Paul is a Republican Party United States Congressman, who gained widespread attention during his campaign for the 2008 Republican Party presidential nomination....
 and the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Ludwig von Mises Institute

The Ludwig von Mises Institute , based in Auburn, Alabama, is a right-libertarianism academic organization engaged in research and scholarship in the fields of economics, philosophy and political economy....
 call for a commodity currency such as was possible under the Gold Standard
Gold standard

The gold standard is a monetary system in which a region's common media of exchange are paper notes that are normally freely convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold....
.

Exacerbation of the business cycle

Some Austrian School
Austrian School

The Austrian School is a Heterodox economics school of economics. It emphasizes the spontaneous organizing power of the price mechanism, holds that the complexity of subjective human choices makes mathematical modelling of the evolving market extremely difficult and therefore advocates a laissez faire approach to the economy....
 economists claim that fractional-reserve banking, by expanding the money supply
Money supply

In economics, money supply, or money stock, is the total amount of money available in an economy at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include currency in circulation and demand deposits....
, will lower the interest rates compared to a hypothetical full-reserve banking system. They argue that this will affect the role of the interest rate as the price of investment capital, guiding investment decisions. In their view, the natural (free of government influence) interest rate reflects the actual time preference
Time preference

In economics, time preference pertains to how large a premium a consumer will place on enjoyment nearer in time over more remote enjoyment.There is no absolute distinction that separates "high" and "low" time preference, only comparisons with others either individually or in aggregate....
 of lenders and borrowers. Government's monopolistic control of the money supply
Money supply

In economics, money supply, or money stock, is the total amount of money available in an economy at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include currency in circulation and demand deposits....
 through central bank
Central bank

A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is the entity responsible for the monetary policy of a country or of a group of member states....
s and regulations insuring fractional-reserve banking activities disturbs this equilibrium such that the interest rate no longer reflects the real supply of and demand for investment capital. Austrian School economists conclude that, if the interest rate is artificially low, then the demand for loans will be higher than the actual supply of willing lenders, and if the interest rate is artificially high, the opposite situation will occur. This misinformation leads investors to misallocate capital, borrowing and investing either too much or too little in long-term projects. Periodic recessions, then, are seen as necessary "corrections" following periods of fiat credit expansion, when unprofitable investments stimulated by fiat credit creation are liquidated, freeing capital for new sustainable investment. One of the proponents of aspects of the business cycle theory, Friedrich von Hayek, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics
Nobel Prize in Economics

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially named The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel , is an award for outstanding contributions in the field of economics and is generally considered one of the most prestigious awards in that field....
,, although Hayek himself accepted that bank credit and fractional reserve banking - even if they contributed to business cycles - were necessary as "the price we pay for a speed of development exceeding" that which would otherwise be possible, and that "financial institutions have never been prohibited from holding fractional reserves." A few Austrian School economists, such as Pascal Salin
Pascal Salin

Pascal Salin is a libertarian France economist, professor at the Universit? Paris-Dauphine and a specialist in public finance. He is a former president of the Mont Pelerin Society ....
, also suggest that a full-reserve banking
Full-reserve banking

Full-reserve banking is the banking practice in which the full amount of each Deposit account funds are available in bank reserves when each depositor had the legal right to withdraw them....
 system should not be enforced legally and dispute Murray Rothbard
Murray Rothbard

Murray Newton Rothbard was an American economics of the Austrian School who helped define modern libertarianism and founded a form of free-market anarchism he termed "anarcho-capitalism"....
's characterization of fractional-reserve banking as a simple form of recursive embezzlement
Embezzlement

Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets, usually financial in nature, by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
, and rather advocate the abolition of central banking and suggest that free banking
Free banking

Free banking is a theory of banking in which commercial banks and market forces control the provision of banking services. Under free banking, government central banks and currency boards do not exist, and banking-specific government regulations are either non-existent or not as strict....
 replace the current system.

Effects of an increased money supply

Fractional reserve banking involves the issuance and creation of commercial bank money, which increases the money supply on an exponential basis. According to the quantity theory of money
Quantity theory of money

In economics, the quantity theory of money is a theory emphasizing the positive relationship of overall prices or the Real versus nominal value of expenditures to the money supply#Scope....
, this increase in the money supply
Money supply

In economics, money supply, or money stock, is the total amount of money available in an economy at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include currency in circulation and demand deposits....
 leads to more money "chasing" the same amount of goods, which leads to inflation
Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. The term "inflation" once referred to increases in the money supply ; however, economic debates about the relationship between money supply and price levels have led to its primary use today in describing price inflatio...
. Most monetarists and Austrian economists, and indeed economists in general, believe that the exchange rate or purchasing power of the monetary unit is governed by the quantity of money, including demand deposits
Demand account

A transactional account is a deposit account held at a bank or other financial institution, for the purpose of securely and quickly providing frequent access to funds on demand, through a variety of different channels....
 and notes, and therefore view fractional reserve banking as the main cause of inflation
Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. The term "inflation" once referred to increases in the money supply ; however, economic debates about the relationship between money supply and price levels have led to its primary use today in describing price inflatio...
.

Some quantity theorists who criticize fractional reserve banking support minimum reserve ratios or other government controls on the quantity of money created by commercial banks. Some support a gold standard
Gold standard

The gold standard is a monetary system in which a region's common media of exchange are paper notes that are normally freely convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold....
 or silver standard
Silver standard

The silver standard is a monetary system in which the standard economics unit of account is a fixed weight of silver. The silver standard was widespread until the 19th century, when it was replaced in most countries by the gold standard....
 to restrain "unfettered", "speculative" fractional-reserve banking activities. Fractional reserve currency has also been characterized as a hybrid of receipt currency and fiat currency
Fiat currency

Fiat currency is money that exists because an authority or custom declares it to be money. . It achieves value because a government requires it in payment of taxes and says it can be used to pay debt or buy goods and services and because people trust that the value of the currency will be reasonably stable....
, and a form of currency that will eventually become fiat currency
Fiat currency

Fiat currency is money that exists because an authority or custom declares it to be money. . It achieves value because a government requires it in payment of taxes and says it can be used to pay debt or buy goods and services and because people trust that the value of the currency will be reasonably stable....
.

See also

  • Bimetallism
    Bimetallism

    In economics, bimetallism is a monetary standard in which the value of the monetary unit is defined as equivalent either to a certain quantity of gold or to a certain quantity of silver....
  • Bretton Woods system
    Bretton Woods system

    The Bretton Woods system of money management established the rules for commerce and finance relations among the world's major developed country in the mid 20th century....
  • Credit money
    Credit money

    Credit money is any future claim against a physical or legal person that can be used for the purchase of goods and services. Examples of credit money include personal IOU s, and in general any financial instrument which is not immediately repayable in specie, on demand....
  • Criticism of fractional-reserve banking
  • Digital gold currency
    Digital gold currency

    Digital gold currency is a form of electronic money based on ounces of gold. It is a kind of representative money, like a US paper gold certificate at the time that these were exchangeable for gold on demand....
  • Fiat currency
    Fiat currency

    Fiat currency is money that exists because an authority or custom declares it to be money. . It achieves value because a government requires it in payment of taxes and says it can be used to pay debt or buy goods and services and because people trust that the value of the currency will be reasonably stable....
  • Free banking
    Free banking

    Free banking is a theory of banking in which commercial banks and market forces control the provision of banking services. Under free banking, government central banks and currency boards do not exist, and banking-specific government regulations are either non-existent or not as strict....
  • Full-reserve banking
    Full-reserve banking

    Full-reserve banking is the banking practice in which the full amount of each Deposit account funds are available in bank reserves when each depositor had the legal right to withdraw them....
  • Gold standard
    Gold standard

    The gold standard is a monetary system in which a region's common media of exchange are paper notes that are normally freely convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold....
  • Islamic banking
    Islamic banking

    Islamic banking refers to a system of banking or banking activity that is consistent with the principles of Sharia and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics....
  • Money supply
    Money supply

    In economics, money supply, or money stock, is the total amount of money available in an economy at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include currency in circulation and demand deposits....
  • Money creation
    Money creation

    Money creation is the process by which money is produced or issued. There are three different ways to create money:* manufacturing a new monetary unit, such as paper currency or metal coins ...
  • Monetary reform
    Monetary reform

    Monetary reform describes any movement or theory that proposes a different system of supplying money and financing the economy than the current system....
  • Seignorage
  • Usury
    Usury

    Usury originally meant the charging of interest on loans. This would have included charging a fee for the use of money, such as at a bureau de change....
  • List of economics topics
    List of economics topics

    This aims to be a complete article list of economics topics:...
  • List of finance topics
    List of finance topics

    Topics in finance include:...
  • List of business ethics, political economy, and philosophy of business topics
    List of business ethics, political economy, and philosophy of business topics

    See business ethics, political economy and Philosophy of business for an overview.*Accounting reform*Bait and switch*Black market...
  • Call Report
    Call Report

    All regulation financial institutions in the United States are required to file quarterly financial information. For banks this report is formally known as the Report of Condition and Income but is generally referred to as the Call Report....


Further reading

  • Huerta de Soto, J.
    Jesús Huerta de Soto

    Jes?s Huerta de Soto Ballester is an Austrian School economist and Professor of Political Economy at Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid, Spain....
     (2006), Money, Bank Credit and Economic Cycles, Ludwig von Mises Institute
  • Meigs, A.J. (1962), Free reserves and the money supply, Chicago, University of Chicago, 1962.
  • Crick, W.F. (1927), The genesis of bank deposits, Economica, vol 7, 1927, pp 191-202.
  • Philips, C.A. (1921), Bank Credit, New York, Macmillan, chapters 1-4, 1921,
  • Thomson, P. (1956), Variations on a theme by Philips, American Economic Review vol 46, December 1956, pp. 965-970.
  • Parliament of Tasmania, Monetary System, Report of Select Committee, With Minutes of Proceedings, 1935.


External links

  • Federal Reserve Document explaining how money is created.