Off-balance sheet activities and financial innovation in banking

Abstract

Bank’s off-balance sheet operations have grown rapidly in recent years. The ‘off’ balance sheet description denotes that the activities involve contingent commitments or contracts which generate income to a bank, but are not normally captured as assets or liabilities under conventional accounting procedures. The work explores the growth of this phenomenon in a broader context of innovations in financial techniques in banking. The author looks at the nature of off-balance sheet business and compares it with traditional banking operations. The reasons for the growth of these operations as well as their risks are then investigated. JEL: G21

Keywords

• Off-balance sheet operations
• financial innovation
• banking