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Assessing the social role and responsibility of a
bank is not an easy task. A financial institution
is by definition a complex organisation and for
those who do not know its operation it is not
easy to understand its role in society. Therefore
we shall give a short introduction of the bank
balance sheet.
As is the case with every company, the bal-
ance sheet of the bank consists of two parts.
The left-hand side or the assets side shows the
possessions of the institution, the right–hand
side or liabilities side shows the debts. In the
annual accounts, under those two sections, we
find the profit and loss account, which specifies
the profit or loss and shows how the result has
come about.
On the assets side of a bank balance sheet the
careful reader will see how many loans the in-
On the balance sheet
Assets
Liabilities
Loans
Mortgages
Consumer loans
Lending to companies
Lending to governmental bodies
Equity
Share capital
Etc.
Liquid assets
Shares, corporate bonds
Government bonds
Interbank debt claims
Etc.
Borrowed capital
Deposits
> Customer deposits
> Certificates of deposits
Financial instruments
> Bonds
> Derivatives
Interbank market funding
Other assets
Real estate
Derivatives
Goodwill
Etc.
Balance sheet
Balance sheet
2.
>
PROSPERITY
The bank balance sheet
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