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For Release on Delivery
M o n d a y % April 2 , 1973
10:30 a » m « , E . S . T .




AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL BANKING
Trends and Prospects

Paper By
Andrew F . Brimmer
Member
Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System

Before the

Bankers

51st Annual Meeting of the
Association for Foreign Trade

1

Boca Raton Hotel
Boca Raton, Florida

April 2 , 1973

A M E R I C A N INTERNATIONAL BANKING
Trends and Prospects
By
Andrew F . Brimmer*
I.

Introduction
For almost a d e c a d e , the foreign activities of American

commercial banks have been influenced substantially by limitations
on their ability to transfer funds from the United States.

Partly as

a by-product of those restrictions, the banks have recorded a spectacular
growth in their network of foreign branches.

Since the Administration

has committed itself ta> phase out the restraints on capital outflow by the
end of 1974, questions are naturally being asked about the implications of
such a move for the future of American international b a n k i n g .

In fact, some

o b s e r v e r s — w i t h o u t waiting for details regarding the scope and timing
* M e m b e r , Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
I am grateful to several persons on the Board's staff for assistance
in the preparation of this paper. M r . Henry S . Terrell was particularly
helpful in organizing statistics relating to sources and uses of funds by
foreign branches of U . S . b a n k s . He also helped in the overall coordination
of the statistical analysis. M r . Michael D . O'Connor was the primary source
of information on the banking activity of Edge Corporations and on the
profitability of foreign banking activity. (Mr. O'Connor in turn was
assisted by M r . Michael Martinson in the compilation of some of the
international financial statistics.) A considerable amount of computer
programming was required to obtain the data on which the analysis is
b a s e d . M r s . Veronica M . Harris helped with the processing of the monthly
reports for the foreign b r a n c h e s , and M r s . A . Christine James formulated
the specifications for the program to provide cumulative ratios of
categories of bank assets by size of bank as reported under the Voluntary
Foreign Credit Restraint P r o g r a m .
r

H o w e v e r , while I am grateful to members of the B o a r d s staff for
assistance, the analysis presented and views expressed in the paper
are m y own and should not be attributed to the s t a f f — n o r to my colleagues
on the Board.




- 2 of steps to eliminate the r e s t r i c t i o n s — h a v e already concluded that
the outlook is far from promising for a number of banks which recentlyemerged on the international financial scene.
I have also been thinking about the foreign activities of
American b a n k s .

To gain at least a modest basis on which to form

judgments about prospects ahead, 1 thought it desirable to review
the principal trends that have shaped and conditioned the b a n k s
foreign business in recent y e a r s .
this review suggest

1

The conclusions I reached from

that the future is by no means p e s s i s m i s t i c — b u t

neither is it aglow with promises of universal prosperity.

In general,

I would expect American commercial banks as a group to continue to
play an expanding role on the world financial scene.

But I would

also expect to see a winnowing out of individual participants as
the currents of competition in the provision of international banking
services strain managerial talent and erode profit m a r g i n s .

It

also seems evident that the competitive edge in this unfolding
rivalry w i l l be held b y the largest b a n k s — a l t h o u g h a few smaller
institutions (perhaps because of unique management talents or other
special situations) may be able to survive and prosper.
These general observations are supported by the evidence
presented in the rest of this p a p e r .

In Section I I , the changing

scope and geography of U . S . international banking are discussed.




- 3 The expansion of the banks
in Section III.

1

foreign branch

network is examined

The character of the foreign branches' business

is sketched in Section IV;

this is done in terms of the sources

and uses of their f u n d s — w i t h special reference to the differential
performance of branches in the United Kingdom and shell branches
in the Bahamas.

A preliminary assessment of the profitability of

international banking is presented in Section V;

the tentative

conclusion reached suggests that profit margins in foreign lending
(particularly in London) which were already
further in the last year.

thin have been shaved

While the dominant movement has been

the expansion in the network of foreign branches, a subsidiary theme
has been the establishment of out-of-state Edge Corporations by some
of the largest banks in the country.

The dimensions and competitive

impact of this movement are discussed in Section V I .

Conxnercial

banks apparently played an important role in the capital outflow
which resulted from the speculation against exchange rates earlier
this year.

While the full extent of this participation cannot be

quantified, the readily available statistics summarized in Section V I I ,
suggest that the banks

1

role was considerable.

The performance of

commercial banks with respect to the Guidelines established under the
Voluntary Foreign Credit Restraint (VFCR) Program is discussed in
Section V I I I .

Several features stand out:

the foreign assets on the books of the banks




a sizable proportion of
1

head offices is no

longer subject to the VFCR restraints•

The elimination of export

credits from restraint has produced a modest deconcentration in
the ownership of foreign a s s e t s — a l t h o u g h the largest banks remain
the dominant forces in international banking.

The U.S. agencies

and branches of foreign banks have greatly expanded their role in
international financial transactions originating in this country.
Under the VFCR Program, these entities are not subject to the
same form of restraint as applies to U . S . headquartered
institutions.

The prospects for international banking are assessed

in Section IX.

The scope for U . S . banks to engage in foreign

activities under the 1971 amendments to the Bank Holding Company
Act is outlined.

The near-term prospects for foreign banking are

weighed in terms of the future of the V F C R .

The long-term outlook

is discussed against the background of the reassessment of the
framework of international banking now underway in the Federal Reserve
System.

While no definitive paths can be charted at this time, I

am personally hopeful that the scope for U.S. banks
can be

broadened considerably.

activities abroad

Finally, in Section X , the principal

conclusions reached in the paper are summarized.




1

- 5 II.

Scope and Geography of American International Banking
The fact that activities of U.S. banks abroad have expanded

enormously is widely recognized.

However, as background for the

subsequent discussion of the performance and profitability of their
foreign operations, it might be helpful to summarize the overall
dimensions and geographic focus of this expansion.
the statistics presented in Tables 1, 2 , 3

For this purpose,

and 4 (attached) can be

drawn upon.
Growth of Foreign Business
During the last decade, the foreign activities of U . S .
commercial banks rose almost three times as fast as their domestic
business.

But the sharp break in the way in which they conducted their

foreign lending which occurred w i t h the advent of the VFCR program in
early 1965 is also evident.

As shown in Table 1 , outstanding bank

credit to foreigners extended from offices in the U . S . amounted
to $4.2 billion in 1960;
$13.4 billion in 1972.

the level rose to $9.4 billion in 1964 and to
Over the same period, total assets of all

insured commercial banks in the U . S . climbed from $255.7 billion in
1960;

to $343.9 billion in 1964; and to $661.8 billion in 1972.
These figures indicate that the domestic business of U . S .

banks expanded at an annual average rate of 7.7 per cent between
1960-64;

8.5 per cent between 1964-72; and 8*2 per cent for the period

1960-72.

In contrast, the annual average growth rates for foreign assets




- 6 on the books of their head offices were as follows:
cent;

1960-64, 22.8 per

1964-72, 4.5 per cent; and 1960-72, 10.1 per cent.

Thus, one

can see readily the way in which the introduction of the VFCR program
dampened bank lending of U . S . source funds to foreign borrowers.
But paralleling the restraint on outflows of funds from the U.S.,
lending activity at the banks' foreign branches accelerated greatly.
Assets at these branches rose at an annual average rate of 18.5 per
cent during 1960-64;

37.7 per cent during 1964-72; and 31.3 per cent

during 1960-72.
The division of the banks' foreign business between their
head offices and foreign branches since 1960 can be traced in Table 2.
The major shift of lending activity to the foreign branches after
1964 stands out unmistakably.
of the total foreign assets;
per cent by 1964.

In 1960, the latter held 36 per cent
this proportion had declined to only 29

This relative decline reflected the banks

1

stepped-

up lending to foreigners from their head offices in the intervening
years--an acceleration which contributed substantially to the total capital
outflow in that period which in turn necessitated the subsequent
imposition of restraints on

foreign lending.

took hold, the proportion of the banks

1

through foreign branches rose steadily.

As the VFCR Guidelines

international business conducted
By the end of last year, over

four-fifths of the banks' total foreign credits outstanding were on the
books of their foreign branches.




- 7 Another important aspect of the effects of the VFCR program
on the way in which the banks conduct their business can be seen in
Table 2.

It will be recalled that, in response to Congressional

mandate, export credits were exempted from the VFCR ceilings in November,
1971.

In response to this freedom, a number of banks placed on their

head office book export loans to foreigners that otherwise would have
been extended from foreign branches.

As a result, in 1971--for the first

time since the VFCR Program was put in p l a c e — a significant proportion (onesixth) of the increase in the banks
the U . S .

1

foreign credit outstanding occurred in

Last year, a similar pattern was f o l l o w e d — w i t h about one-

seventh of the rise centering at their head offices.

This point

should be kept in mind when the effects of the export credit exemption
on the deconcentration of foreign assets among banks is discussed
below.
Still other important dimensions of recent developments in
international banking can be traced in the statistics.
overriding conclusion stands out:

However, one

U . S . banks became much more heavily

engaged in foreign lending relative to the rest of their business in
the last decade.

For example, foreign assets of U.S. banks (that is,

assets at foreign branches plus loans to foreigners on head office books)
represented under 3 per cent of their total assets (domestic and foreign)
in 1960;

the proportion rose to about 4 per cent in 1964, and to
1/

roughly 10 per cent in 1972.

In m y opinion, this fundamental change

in the orientation of U . S . banking is not likely to be reversed in the
near future.
1/ Because of differences in the coverage of the available statistical 1
series, only a rough estimate can be made of the share of the banks
total resources devoted to foreign activities.




- 8 Another aspect of the growing emphasis of U.S. banks
on the international side of their business can be seen in the
behavior of foreign deposits at their head offices and in their
foreign branches.

In 1960 (as shown in Table 1), the banks were

holding at their head offices $9.1 billion of foreign-owned deposits.
By 1964, the volume had risen to $13.4 billion, and it climbed
further to $17.4 billion in 1972.

In 1960, foreign deposits

represented 4.0 per cent of the head office total, and the proportion
rose to 4.5 per cent in 1964.
3.2 per cent.

However, by 1972, it had receded to

Between 1960-64, foreign deposits at head offices

expanded at an annual average rate of 10.1 per cent.

But in the

1964-72 period, the rate of growth was 3.0 per c e n t — l e s s than onethird the earlier annual average.

To a considerable extent, this

slackening pace was a by-product of the efforts by U.S. banks to
attract funds to their foreign branches — from which they could be
2/
relent outside the constraints of the VFCR Guidelines.—
The increased reliance of U.S. banks on foreign d e p o s i t s —
particulary at their foreign b r a n c h e s — s t a n d s out even more clearly in
the data presented in Table 3 , showing deposits for 20 U . S . multinational banks.

It will be noted that in 1964, only 10 of these

banks had foreign branches.

These branches had $5.8 billion of deposits,

representing 9.1 per cent of the total deposits held by these banks
at both their head offices and foreign branches. By 1972, all except
W
In passing, it should also be observed that deposits in foreign
branches were also free of both U.S. imposed reserve requirements
and ceiling on maximum interest rates which could be p a i d .




- 9 one of the 20 banks had foreign branches.

These branches held $57.9

billion in deposits, representing 29.9 per cent of the combined head
office and branch d e p o s i t s — v s . 6.3 per cent of the total in 1964.
However, the most dramatic change was the accelerated expansion in
the foreign branch deposits of those banks which already had such
branches in 1964.

Among these institutions, deposits at foreign

branches were equal to 34.4 per cent of the combined head office and
branch total in 1 9 7 2 — o r 3-1/2 times the proportion registered eight
years earlier.

Among the 10 banks which acquired foreign branches

between 1964-72, deposits at such branches last year amounted to
18.1 per cent of the combined head office and branch total.

Among

individual banks, the proportion of their total deposits held at
foreign branches varied greatly in 1972.

For nearly half of the

banks (9 of 20), branch deposits were equal to more than one-quarter
of the total, and for six of them the proportion exceeded one-third.
In general, the largest banks in the group had the highest percentage
of their total deposits on the books of their foreign branches.

Changing Geography of Foreign Lending
While U.S. commercial tanks were shifting an increasing
share of their international business to their foreign branches
1

after the m i d - 1 9 6 0 s , they were also changing the geographic
direction of foreign lending from their head offices.




This pattern

- 10 can be seen in the statistics presented in Table 4 , showing claims
on foreigners reported by banks in the United States in 1964, 1968,
and 1972.

At the end of 1964, before the VFCR program came into

effect, residents of Latin America had received the largest share
of the total outstanding (29 per cent) followed closely by Japan
(27 per cent).

Western Europe was next with 24 per cent, and

Canada's share was 11 per cent.

When the volume outstanding is

divided according to maturity, the geographic pattern of lending
changed somewhat.

Japan was the heaviest borrower of short-term

funds (35 per cent), but Western Europe was in the lead with respect
to long-term bank loans (40 per cent).

The share of both short-

term and long-term credits advanced to borrowers in Latin America
was roughly the same,28 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.
However, with the impostion of the VFCR program (and
especially after a provision was added to the Guidelines limiting
bank term loans to the developed countries of continental Western
Europe), the proportion of outstanding claims reflecting loans extended
to Western European borrowers declined.

By the end of 1968, the

proportion had receded to o n e - s e v e n t h — f r o m one-quarter in 1964.
The relative decline of term loans was even more n o t i c e a b l e — a drop
from two-fifths to one-sixth.

Latin America was the main beneficiary

of this shift in the direction of U . S . ©mmercial bank lending abroad.
By 1968, that area's share of total claims had climbed to 37 per cent,
and the percentage was essentially the same for both short-term and
long-term loans.




- 11 In contrast, partly reflecting liberalization of the VFCR
program in the intervening years, by the end of last year, the
geographic distribution of lending had shifted appreciably back
toward the pattern which prevailed in 1964.

For example, Western

European borrowers had received almost one-fifth of the total
outstanding loans to foreigners in 1972, and the percentage for
Latin Americahad shrunk to less than one-third.
also declined somewhat.

The Japanese share had

The relative shift to Western Europe was

somewhat more marked in the case of short-term loans than it was
in the case of credits of longer maturity.

In the case of Latin

America, the share of long-term claims continued to rise moderately,
but the share of short-term loans was about the same in 1972 as it
had been in 1964.

Japanese borrowers continued to rely heavily on

U . S . short-term bank credit during much of the 1960's, although their
share of such credits outstanding eased off between 1968 and 1972
and amounted to just over one-quarter in the latter year.
It should be remembered, of course, that the f i g u r e presented
here describe the geographic pattern of lending from the banks
offices in the U . S .

1

head

The geography of lending by their foreign

branches may have differed somewhat, but data are not available to
determine the e x t e n t — i f a n y — o f such divergence.




- 12 III.

Expanding Network of International Banking
As I mentioned above, the introduction of the VFCR program

was a major stimulus to the growth of foreign branches of U.S. banks.
The main contours of this expansion can be seen in Table 5.

At the

end of 1964, only a handful of banks (11) had established such
offices abroad—although in combination they were operating from
181 foreign locations.

By the end of 1968, the number of banks

had climbed to 27 and the number of branches to 375.
four years, the pace accelerated rapidly;

In the next

by the end of last year,

107 banks had 627 foreign branches.
Since the banks

1

customers (composed mainly of American

multi-national corporations) were greatly expanding their activities
abroad during these years, one would have expected
in the network of foreign branches.
the

some expansion

This expansion was enhanced by

restraints on capital outflow imposed on U.S. direct investors

by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

By lending from their foreign

branches, and therefore outside the VFCR, U.S. commercial banks could
assist their customers to comply with the Commerce Department's
Program.

Growth of London Branches
Until recent years, the growth of American international
banking was centered primarily in London.

This was initially a reflection

of London's historical role as a financial center second only to New York.




- 13 However, during the periods of monetary stringency in the U.S. in
1966 and 1969-70, a bank with a branch in London had a convenient
means of tapping the Euro-dollar market for funds to be used in its
domestic business*

Realizing this advantage, a number of banks

(some of which were well-below the average size of banks already
active on the international scene) rushed to open branches in
London.

Consequently, by the end of 1972, 34 U.S. banks were

operating a total of 45 branches in London.

Moreover, at the peak

of U.S. commercial bank borrowing in the Euro-dollar market in 1969,
total indebtedness by all U . S . banks to their foreign branches amounted
to over $13 billion, and the overwhelming proportion of this was obtained
through the London branches.
Growth of Branches in the Bahamas and Cayman Islands
While the growth of U . S . commercial bank branches in London
is clearly a major event in international banking, the most remarkable
developments have occurred on this side of the Atlantic. These have been
the mushroom growth of "shell" branches in Nassau, Bahamas, and more
recently in the Cayman Islands.

In 1964, only two U.S. commercial banks

had established a branch in Nassau, and both of them were full-service
units.

Even as late as the end of 1968, only six banks had a total of

eight Nassau branches, and four of these were offering a full range of
banking services.
However, in early 1969, the Federal Reserve Board began to
approve the creation of Nassau shell branches (a policy which I have




-14personally never supported).

The Board's decision was aimed primarily at

providing smaller banks with a means of obtaining access to the Eurodollar m a r k e t — i n i t i a l l y to enable them to serve their foreign customers
outside the restrictions of the VFCR Guidelines.

Subsequently, most

of these Nassau units began to channel funds from the Euro-dollar market
to their head offices .in the U.S.to enable the latter to cushion the
impact of domestic monetary restraint.

Still later, a number of banks

(including some of the largest in the country) opened Nassau shell
branches primarily for the purpose of benefiting from the favorable tax
laws governing income generated by assets assigned to the Bahamas.

The

extremely low cost of establishing a shell branch in Nassau compared
with the cost in L o n d o n — o n l y a few thousand dollars v s . $400,000 - $500,000-made launching such a branch an easy proposition.
operating costs are also m o d e s t .

M o r e o v e r , annual

A typical shell branch has virtually

no full-time employees, since the needed bookkeeping services are contracted
for locally.

All management decisions are made at the head office in the

U . S . where a duplicate set of books is k e p t .
Reflecting these circumstances, the number of Nassau shell
branches has grown spectacularly.

At the end of last y e a r , 84 banks

were operating such branches in the Bahamas.
no other branch.

Seventy-one of these had

But several of the remaining 13 were among the largest

banks in the country with a virtually world-wide network of branches.
As already mentioned, they have been attracted to the area primarily
because of substantial tax advantages.




-15In recent months, however, a number of banks have found the
Bahamas somewhat less appealing than they did at the

outset.

The

principal reasons cited by some of them relate to uncertainty on their
part regarding the future political environment as the Bahamas approaches
full self-government.

But whatever the specific reason, some of the

banks with Nassau shell branches have begun to migrate to locations which
they believe will be more hospitable to their interest.
alternative to emerge so far is the Cayman Islands.

The favored

This British possession

just off the north coast of Jamaica offers the same kind of tax haven
found in Nassau, and many bankers reportedly are more comfortable about
the Caymans

r

long-run political prospects.

In any case, by the end of

of last year, 10 U . S . banks had established branches in the Caymans, and
eight of these were of the shell variety.
which have no other foreign branches.

Six of the eight were banks

Furthermore, three of these six

were banks which have one shell branch each in N a s s a u — e a c h of which is
scheduled to be closed.
While I have looked upon the Nassau shell branches as falling
short of the requirements needed to qualify as genuine foreign banking
i n s t i t u t i o n s — a n d the movement to the Caymans simply compounds an already
undesirable situation--! have no expectations that the device will disappear.
R a t h e r , I would expect these or similar arrangements to be maintained, at
least on a minimum-level-of-operations basis, even if the VFCR restraints
were to disappear and the demand for Euro-dollars to avoid the pressures




-16generated by domestic monetary restraint falls short of that experienced
in earlier y e a r s .

This expectation rests on the strong incentives

provided by income tax havens such as Nassau and the Caymans.

In the mean-

time, beginning about a year a g o , the Board has alerted the banks opening
shell branches in the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands to the possibility
that the conditions under which the Board permits them to do business
may be modified.

Personally, I hope these will be substantially circum-

scribed (and preferably cancelled) and hope this is done sooner rather
than later.




- 17 Nature and Scope of Foreign Branch Activities
A variety of approaches could be used to analyze the
performance of foreign branches of U.S. commercial banks.

For the

purpose of this paper, however, I decided that it might be
instructive to recast the data from the balance sheets of the foreign
branches in a way which would highlight their sources and uses of funds.
It is also possible to rearrange the statistics to show the principal
market sectors in which the foreign branches' activities are concentrated.
Moreover, the branches can be grouped according to geographic location.
Finally, because such a large proportion of the growth in foreign
activities of U . S . banks in recent years has been centered in London,
it seems especially interesting to contrast the long-established
f

institution with those opened since the m i d - 1 9 6 0 s .

The statistical

information produced by this rearranging is shown in Tables 6 , 7
and 8.
As stressed previously, one of the principal motivations
inducing U.S. banks to open foreign branches was the opportunity to
provide funds to their U . S . parents during the periods of domestic
stringency in 1966 and 1969-70.

These branches (particularly those

located in the United Kingdom) were also used to mobilize funds which
could be rechanneled to other foreign branches in various parts of
the w o r l d .

The branches

1

activities along these lines essentially

constituted financing an internal commercial banking system of which
they were a part.
The overwhelming part of the foreign branches business,
h o w e v e r , was concentrated in the inter-bank market.




This market is

- 18 -

a network of foreign commercial banks which hold each others deposits
and extend credits to each other.

The individual b a n k s , of course,

would eventually have to attract funds outside the banking system;
but ass a group, their net positions vis-a-vis each other are
represented in the statistics.

Entry to the inter-bank market

is fairly easy, and this has enabled even fairly small banks to
launch foreign branches which can quickly build up sizable footings
on their balance sheets.
The foreign branches have also been able to do a moderate
amount of business with foreign offical institutions.

Here a l s o —

depending parly on contacts devloped by their p a r e n t s — s o m e of the
foreign branches have been able to attract official deposits, and
some of them have also been able to extend a modest amount of credit
to foreign governments.
Y e t , the dominant reason underlying the initial expansion
of foreign branches was the desire to finance their foreign customers-especially U . S . multi-national corporations.

As mentioned above, the

imposition of restraints on the ability of U . S . corporations to finance
themselves from the U . S . (particularly after these restraints were
made mandatory in January, 1968) made it increasingly necessary for
these firms to raise funds a b r o a d .

This development created a widening

opportunity for U . S . banks to expand their foreign b r a n c h e s — a n
opportunity which many banks were forced to exploit in order to retain
some of their oldest customers.




T h u s , the extent to which the foreign branches

- 19 have been able to concentrate their business in this market seems
to be a fairly good test of their overall performance.

I have

defined this segment of their business as participation in the
external market;

here one can observe the behavior of their liabilities

to private foreign depositors and changes in their claims on private
foreign borrowers.
Within the framework sketched above, the performance of
foreign branches can be examined.

As shown

in Table 6, at the

end of 1969, the foreign branches of U.S. banks were carrying $36.6
billion of resources on their books.

Of this amount, S24.2 billion

(or 66.4 per cent of the total) were held by branches in the United
Kingdom.

Branches in the Bahamas held $3.0 billion (8.3 per cent of

the total) and branches outside of these areas held $9.3 billion in
resources, which accounted for 25.4 per cent of the total.

By the

end of last year, the total resources of foreign branches of U.S. banks
had climbed to $80.0 billion (Table 7 ) .

However, a noticeable shift had

occurred in the relative position of the branches in the United Kingdom
compared with those in the Bahamas.

At the end of 1972, the United

Kingdom units held $43.7 billion in resources, but this represented
only 54.6 per cent of the resources held by all foreign branches in
contrast to the 66.4 per cent which they represented in 1969.

The

resources of the Bahamas branches had expanded to $13.1 billion at the
end of last year, and their share had risen to 16.4 per cent of the total.
Branches located in areas other than in the United Kingdom and the
Bahamas also expanded their resources a p p r e c i a b l y — t o a level of




- 20 $23.3 billion.

However, their relative share rose only moderately

from 25.4 per cent in 1969 to 29.1 per cent in 1972.

These overall

magnitudes ought to be kept in mind as the foreign branches

1

participation in various segments of international banking is examined.
Financing the Bank^ Internal System
The extent to which the foreign branches have been used
to supply funds to the various components of the banking system of
which they are a part has varied appreciably.

For instance, in 1969,

$13.8 billion of the foreign branches' resources (approximately
two-fifths of the total) represented funds supplied to their U.S.
parents.

This was the largest single use of the branches

1

funds.

At the same time, the branches had received only a trivial proportion
(2 per cent) of their resources from their parents, so their net
position was overwhelmingly in the branches

1

favor.

About 8 per cent

of the branches resources had originated with other foreign units in their
systems, and about the same percentage of their total resources was
used to put other branches in funds.
The degree to which the branches in different parts of the
world were devoting themselves to the financing of their internal
banking systems varied noticeably.

For example, branches in both the

United Kingdom and in the Bahamas were using oyer two-fifths of their
total resources to help meet the needs of their U.S. parents in 1969.
In contrast,foreign branches outside of those two locations were devoting
only one-quarter of their resources




to the same purpose.

Moreover,

- 21 the latter obtained a somewhat larger share (6-1/2 per cent) of their
resources from their parents compared with only 0.3 per cent for
branches in the United Kingdom and 1.3 per cent for branches in the
Bahamas.

Likewise, branches outside the United Kingdom and the

Bahamas were relied on somewhat more heavily as a source of loans
and as a place in which to keep deposits of other branches in the
system than was the case with the branches in the former locations.
By the end of last

-t7

ear, reflecting the sharp decline in demand

for Euro-dollars by U.S. head offices as domestic monetary restraint
was replaced by moderate ease, the foreign branches withdrew almost
completly from supplying funds to their U.S. parents.

At the

end of last December, the foreign branches were using only 2.7 per
cent of their greatly enlarged volume of resources for this purpose.
The cutback extended across the b o a r d — w i t h branches in the United
Kingdom, the Bahamas, and in other parts of the world being in essentially
the same position.

S o f while meeting the needs of the U.S. parents

was the single most important use of the foreign branches

1

funds in 1969,

this activity had shrunk to the point where it was almost the least
important in 1972 (only claims on foreign official institutions accounted
for a smaller s h a r e — 2 . 1 per cent of the total).

For all foreign branches

combined, the proportion of their total activity represented by the
financing of branches in other
from 8 per cent to 12 per cent.




countries

rose somewhat over the period

However, the share of resources

„

- 22 used for this purpose by branches in the Bahamas declined slightly
while other foreign branches became substantially more important as
a source of funds.

On the other hand, branches in both the United

Kingdom and in other parts of the world increased the proportion of
their resources used to finance other branch units in their respective
systems.
In the face of this dramatic decline in the opportunity of
the foreign branches to employ their resources in financing their
internal systems--while the overall volume of their resources was
registering an even more dramtic rise--these foreign institutions found
themselves in an extremely competitive environment characterized by
shrinking outlets for their funds.

The way in which they performed

under these circumstances can be discussed next.
Participation in the Inter-Bank Market
The natural place to which the foreign branches could turn
to employ their resources was the inter-bank market.
the main source of funds for these institutions.

This was always

For example, in 1969,

about 56 per cent of the total liabilities of all the foreign branches
combined represented liabilities to foreign commercial banks.

The

proportion was substantially higher for branches in the United Kingdom
(61 per cent) and in the Bahamas (64 per cent).

Branches outside

these two areas relied on the interbank market to a significantly lesser




- 23 -

degree;

since they had obtained only 39 per cent of their total

resources in the interbank market.
very extensive

On the other hand, despite the

employment of their funds to finance their parents,

all of the foreign branches had used a sizable proportion (27 per cent)
of their resources to extend loans in the inter-bank market.

This

fraction varied somewhat when the London branches are contrasted with
the other geographic groups.

For the London branches, the proportion

was 29 per cent, but the other two groups had essentially the same
ratio (23 per cent for those in the Bahamas and 22-1/2 per cent for
those in other parts of the world).
This pattern of participation in the inter-bank market
had changed noticeably by the end of last year.

This market continued

to provide for all foreign branches combined about the same proportion
of their total resources as it did at the end of 1 9 6 9 — 5 3 per cent last
year v s . 56 per cent on the earlier date.

The same was true for

branches in both the Bahamas and the rest of the w o r l d .

In the case

of the Bahamas, the proportions were 63.8 per cent in 1969 and 62.4
per cent in 1972;

for branches in other countries, the proportions

were 38.8 per cent in 1969 and 41.2 per cent in 1972.

But, in the

case of the branches in the United Kingdom, the proportion of funds
obtained in the inter-bank market declined over the intervening period-from 61.4 per cent in 1969 to 56.7 per cent last year.




- 24 But an even

more dramatic change occurred in the extent to

which the foreign branches relied on the inter-bank market as
an outlet for their resources.

The foreign branches as a group

had nearly one-half of their assets in the inter-bank market at
the end of 1972 in contrast to only one-quarter at the end of 1969.
This sharp change in the composition of earning assets was particularly
evident in both the United Kingdom and the Bahamas, but it was also
noticeable at branches in other foreign countries.

The proportion

just about doubled in the two former a r e a s , but it increased by
roughly one-third in the latter.
In other words, it seems that, once the foreign branches
had been established, they were open to a continued sizable inflow
of f u n d s — a l t h o u g h the demand for funds by their own internal
systems had declined appreciably.

To employ such resources, the

foreign branches began to engage progressively in w h a t was essentially
a brokerage rather than a banking business.

As discussed more fully

b e l o w , the competitiion to place funds in the inter-bank market has
led

to a significant narrowing in lending m a r g i n s , and this has had

a significant impact on the profitability of the foreign b r a n c h e s —
particularly in L o n d o n .
Participation in the External Market
As a group, foreign branches seem to have m a d e some progress
in expanding the volume of international banking services provided
to private Hepositors and private borrowers.




However, the overall

- 25 pattern has been quite m i x e d .

At the end of 1969, all foreign

branches combined had received about one-fifth of the total resources
in the form of private deposits.

There was virtually no variation

in the proportion among branches in different

locations.

But by the

end of last year, the share of the foreign branches' total resources
represented by private deposits had dropped to one-seventh.

The

decline was particularly noticeable in the case of branches in the
Bahamas (where the fraction was only 10 per cent), but it also
occurred at branches in the United Kingdom (16 per cent) and at
branches in other areas (13 per cent).

The changes in the investment

of their resources in the external market also contrasted significantly
among the different groups of institutions.

Taken as a whole, the

claims on private foreign borrowers rose from 17 per cent in 1969
to 29 per cent in 1972.

The most striking increase occurred at

branches in the Bahamas where the proportion doubled between
the two years (a rise from 17 per cent to 35 per cent)•

A noticeable

but less dramatic rise occurred in lending to private borrowers by
branches in other countries (from 25 per cent of the total resources
in 1969 to 35 per cent in 1972).

At branches in the United Kingdom,

the proportion rose from 14 per cent to 23 per cent in 1969 and 1972,
respectively.
These statistics suggest that banking activity at the foreign
branches in the Bahamas seems to be becoming more like that conducted
by branches in foreign countries in general (other than the United Kingdom)
as far as lending to private borrowers is concerned.




O n the other h a n d ,

- 26 they seem to be conforming more closely to the pattern set by the
United Kingdom

branches with respect to their sources of funds.

These mixed trends among branches in the Bahamas may very well
be a reflection of the fact that a number of large banks which also
have London

branches have established shell branches in Nassau.

As indicated earlier, the search for a favorable tax haven has been
the principal motivation underlying this latter development.

To

the extent that this is true, one would expect those large banks
which recently arrived in the B a h a m a s — b u t which maintain widespread networte including units in the United Kingdom--to conduct
their business in essentially the same way that they did previously.
Under these circumstances, they would probably continue to raise
funds from sources similiar to those relied on by their branches in
the United Kingdom, and they would probably continue to serve the
same roster of corporation customers which they had previously served.
So over time, I would personally expect to see an even closer convergence
of the commercial banks

1

Bahama-based activity toward the pattern

observable in the United Kingdom.

The Performance of London Branches Established Before and After 1964
Before concluding this discussion of the changing pattern
of business at foreign branches, it might be instructive to look at
the extent to which the activities of the London branches differ
depending on the length of time thay have been operating in the city.




- 27 As shown in Table 8, striking differences are observable.

As one

would expect, the older branches have the major share of the total
resources.

At the end of 1972, their total assets amounted to

$29.9 billion, representing 68 per cent of the total held by all
London branches of U.S. banks.

But the most dramatic difference

between the two groups centeis in the extent to which they rely on
the inter-bank market in obtaining and employing their funds.

The

branches established since 1964 drew nearly three-quarters of their
resources from the inter-bank market, and they had rechanneled twothirds of the volume to the same market.

In contrast, the reliance

of the longer established branches on the inter-barik market was
much less, and their position was equally b a l a n c e d — 4 9 per cent
in both cases.
The newcomer

branches in London were not linked as closely

with other foreign units in their respective systems as were those
institutions opened prior to 1964.

The post-1964 branches had

obtained about 2-1/2 per cent of their resources within their own
systems, and just over 6 per cent of their assets represented
claims on affiliates.

In contrast, the older branches had gotten over

7 per cent of their resources within their own systems, and they were
using almost one-fifth of their assets to supply funds to their parents
and other branches within their own organization.
The pre-1964 branches also seem to have a much better access
to the market for private deposits than the more recently established




- 28 institutions.

In fact, the proportion of the established banks

1

total

resources held in the form of private deposits was about double that
obtained by the l a t t e r — 1 9 per cent v s . 10 per cent.

On the other hand,

the newcomer banks' share was not much smaller on the lending side.

The

older branches held one-quarter of their total assets in the form of
claims on private borrowers compared with one-fifth for the branches
established after 1964.

In the same v e i n , the older units attracted a

proportionately larger fraction of their deposits from foreign goverments and
official institutions than was the case for the more recently launched
branches.

Here again the older groups' proportion (17-1/2 per cent)

was almost double that for the more recently formed institutions
(9 per cent).
This differential pattern of business activity among the
two groups

of London-based branches should be kept in m i n d .

It

seems to have had a direct and significant bearing on the willingness
of various members within these groups to compete for funds and
on the interest rates they seem prepared to charge borrowers.

On

the other h a n d , the extent to which the observed differences show
through in terms of the profitability of the. branches' Londdn-based
business is more uncertain.




- 29 V.

Credit Standards, Credit Quality, and Profitability of Lending in
London
While the major contours of the foreign branches' activities

can be traced in some detail, it is much more difficult to gauge their
performance in terms of those measures carrying the most weight for any lender:
the nature of the risks taken and the rates of return on employed resources.
Over the last few years, I have discussed both of these questions during
trips to London as well as in conversations in this country with American
bankers operating branches in London.

On the basis of those contacts,

a fairly consistent picture has emerged.

In the last week or so, I

have tried to supplement those informal impressions with quantitative
information on the profitability of the banks

1

London business.

The

highlights of both of these inquiries can be summarized here.
Credit Standards and Credit Quality
Credit standards in international lending and the quality
of credit in Eurocurrency markets have been the subject of wide debate
and discussion during the last few years.

Some of this was touched

off by the failure of Penn Central in 1971 which caused European investors
and lending institutions to look more thoroughly at the standards employed
in lending to U . S . corporations.

That concern subsequently became more

general and widespread among both European and American institutions.
In that discussion, criticism was directed at (1) excessive
reliance on name and reputation, rather than credit analysis; (2) inadequate
documentation protecting lenders accompanied by a failure to structure




- 30 loans in accordance with their purposes and cash flow considerations;
(3) insufficiently detailed and timely information on cojjipanies and
b a n k s borrowing in the market; (4) overcompetition from a growing number
of institutions; and (5) inexperience in the newer institutions and a
corresponding reliance on loan organizers in lending decisions instead
of on their own credit analysis.
Comments heard on this subject more recently emphasize the effects
of growing competition on credit quality.

As indicated above, while the

supply of funds available for lending has held up w e l l , overall credit
demands have declined, and there has been a change in the composition
of those demands.

American corporations sharply reduced their term

borrowings beginning in 1971, and European demands shrank as a result
of changing national market conditions and government restrictions on
access to the Euro-currency markets.
and Italian

Most notably, the heavy German

borrowings of 1970 and the early 1971 were followed by

substantial repayments on these credits.

As 1972 unfolded, credit

demands increasingly came largely from peripheral countries, such as
Spain, Iran, Denmark and Brazil.

Part of the reported decline in

the quality of credit extended in Euro-currency markets has therefore
reflected the withdrawal of prime (i.e., U . S . and major European)
borrowers.
Competition among a still growing number of lending
institutions for the reduced amount of loan business available has
been reflected in relaxation of credit terms and a shaving of




lending margins.

Maturities of term credits have been lengthening

toward a 7-year average.

Moreover, even on the less-than-prime

credits coming to market, loan margins have been trimmed.
Contributing to this tendency, it was said, were the efforts of the
branches of interior U . S . banks to obtain earning assets in the
absence of head office demands for Euro-dollar funds and the
ability to cover operating costs from earnings in money and market
arbitrage.

Similar efforts by the new institutions to get their

names recognized in the market and to get loans on their books were
also noted.

It was also reported that, at least well into last year,

some appeared to be ready to take any loans offered to them without
a great deal of selectivity as regards loan terms or names.

The

larger and longer-established institutions maintained that they
have resisted this tendency with some loss of business as a result.
Some of these observations may reflect differences of view in a
changing market situation about the adequacies of return in relation
to risk.

But the general impression one got from conversations

iti London was t h a t — a f t e r some tightening of credit standards
and terms in late 1970 and early 1 9 7 1 — a renewed relaxation occurred
last year.




- 32 This easing in trends in credit standards seems to have
continued into 1973.

It might be recalled that, prior to the

difficulties created by the Penn-Central failure in mid-1970,
most of the medium-term lending activities of American banks in
London (as for other participants in the market) consisted of
organizing s y n d i c a t e s — o r participating in t h e m — f o r large packages
of financing to governments and major international companies.

The

lending was concentrated in the two-to-five year maturity range,
w i t h some extending out to about seven y e a r s .

A small amount of fixed

rate lending was being done, but the preponderant proportion was
conducted on a floating rate b a s i s .

In these arrangements, the rate

was normally set at six-month intervals at 3/4 of 1 per cent over
the inter-bank rate for dollar deposits.
The bankruptcy of the Penn-Central clearly had a distinct
shock on the credit and capital market in London as well as in the
rest of Europe.

Apparently, European investors and financial institutions

had assumed that there was little to be concerned about in extending
credit to major U . S . companies.

In making such loans, they had

relied more on size and reputation of the borrower than on a strict
credit analysis.

M o r e o v e r , it was reported that some of the best known

American corporations were able to get what amounted to a "super

11

prime

r a t e — a s low as 1/2 per cent over the three-to-six month Euro-dollar
rate in contrast to the 3/4 of 1 per cent typically quoted to other prime
borrowers.




But the bankruptcy abruptly changed that situation.

- 33 The immediate consequence of the failure was an intensive review by
European banks and financial institutions of their loans and lending
commitments to American companies.

A general impression gotten

from branches and afiiliates of U.S. banks in London was that a
more lasting consequence has been to make loans for U.S. companies
somewhat more expensive.

Previously U.S. companies could always

command the prime rate in the market or a shade below.

However,

after the Penn-Central difficulties, rates typically quoted for
such borrowers were the same as the prime rate or a shade above.
Moreover, the rate spread for everyone widened appreciably--from
3/4 of 1 per cent above the six-month Euro-dollar rate to as much
as 1-1/4 per cent above the latter.
However, while memories of chat experience have not been
erased in London, it appears that they have been dampened somewhat,
and the growing competition to place money in the market has again
shaved lending margins.

It is reported that rate spreads have again

declined significantly to the point where only a few prime borrowers
are still being quoted a rate as high as 3/4 of 1 per cent above the
three-to-six month Euro-dollar rate.

Instead, most credit demands

of prime borrowers apparently are being m e t at rates in the neighborhood
o f 5/8 to 3/4 of 1 per cent above the basic cost of money to the lenders.
Furthermore, borrowers of less-than-prime standing have also benefited
from the impact of growing competition on lending rates.




In

- 34 the late 1969-early 1970 period, these non-prime borrowers were
typically quoted rates ranging to 2-1/2 per cent and more above the
six-month Euro-dollar rate.

In recent weeks, borrowers with the same

lower-quality credit rating have been able to obtain funds at rates only
1-1/4 per cent to 1-1/2 per cent above the six-month Euro-dollar rate.
Perhaps of equal importance, more and more borrowers previously
regarded as falling below the prime standard have been able to move
into the preferred category.
Rates of Return in Foreign Branch Lending
The impact of this growing competition on the profitability
of branches of American banks in London cannot be readily measured.
On the other hand, using a combination of bank examination reports
and statistical data submitted by insured U.S. commercial banks with
branches in London, it is possible to derive rough estimates of the
pattern of earnings of London branches for the last year or s o .
Unfortunately, because of the need to avoid breaching regulations
governing the confidentiality of these data, the experience of individual
banks cannot be shown.

Furthermore, the information readily available was

quite inadequate for several of the largest banks operating branches
in London.

Thus, the rates of return which were calculated must be

interpreted with care.




- 35 The statistical results obtained are summarized in Table 8-a.
In the first panel of the table, the average rate of return is shown
for 1972 for 15 American banks with branches in London.
this is a measure of their net earnings after taxes.

As noted,

The underlying

reports from which the statistics were obtained showed total assets for
London b r a n c h e s — r a t h e r than earning assets (that is, loans and
investments).

Consequently, for comparison purposes it was also

necessary to show total assets for the parent banks.

By separating

out the London assets, it was possible to calculate three separate
rates of return:

(1) the rate of return

on the banks

1

total

assets, (2) the rate of return on their London business and, (3) the
rate of return on their business apart from their London activities.
Three of the 15 London branches were established before the end of
1964, and the remaining 12 were open in the subsequent years.

Rates

of return were calculated for these two sub-groups.
Data could also be obtained for three additional banks with
London branches.

However, the London activities of these institutions

could not be separated from the rest of their foreign business. So
for these three, the data shown in Table 8-a refer to all of their
foreign branches combined.

Several other pieces of information

relating to the foreign activity and profitability of U.S. banks
are shown in Table 8-a.
*

The percentage of total deposits accounted for

It will be recalled that 34 banks were operating branches in London
at the end of 1972, and their total assets amounted to $43.7 billion.
The 15 banks covered in these profit calculations had London assets
amounting to $19.0 billion in 1972, representing 43 per cent of the
total assets of all U . S . London branches. Since the London branches
of several of the largest U . S . banks were not included in the analysis,
the figures can be taken as representative of the broad spectrum of
banks just below those at the very top of the size range.




- 36 by deposits in their foreign branches is presented.

This fraction

provides a rough indication of the overall importance of the foreign
branches in the parent banks

1

total banking business.

The same

comparison of foreign and total deposits is shown for the 20 multinational banks listed in Table 3 .

Finally, as a rough guideline for

the overall profitability of the U . S . banking business, earnings of
Federal Reserve member banks for the four years 1968 through 1971
are also shown in Table 8-a.
A number of observations can be made on the basis of these
data.

The rate of return at London branches of American banks appears

to be far below that obtained in banks' total business.

For the 15

banks with London branches, the rate of return on total assets was
0.54 per cent in 1972.

In marked contrast, the figure for the London

branches was only 0.12 per cent.

After setting the London assets

aside, the rate of return on the remainder of the banks business was
0.61 per cent.

These rates were virtually the same for the b a n k s

which opened London branches before 1964 as for those which
established operations after that date.

The three banks with London

branches but whose London assets could not be separated from the
remainder of their foreign business had an overall rate of return of
0.44 per cent in 1972.

The rates were essentially the same for their

combined foreign branches (0.40 per cent) and for their purely domestic
business (0.45 per cent).




- 37 The rates of return

for all insured U.S. commercial banks

in recent years seem to have been well above those achieved by banks
with branches in L o n d o n — e v e n when the total business of the parents
is compared with that of U . S . commercial banks generally.

For

instance, in 1971, the rate of return on total assets of all insured
U . S . commercial banks was in the neighborhood of 0.79 per cent.
The rate was approximately the same for the four years 1968-71.
The rate of return on the earnings assets (total loans and investments)
of insured commercial banks was somewhat higher:

0.97 per cent in 1968,

1.08 per cent in both 1969 and 1970, and 0.98 per cent in 1971.
While, the comparison between the profitability of all insured
U . S . commercial banks and the sample of those with London branches
is necessarily imprecise, one overall impression seems inescapable:
profit margins in the London-based banking business are remarkably
narrow.

Moreover, the effect of these low earnings rates is to

depress the overall profitability of the parent banks themselves.

Again,

further refinements of the underlying data would undoubtedly improve
the quality of these

estimates, but there is no reason to believe

that such an effort would erase the substantial differences observed
on the basis of the information as it now stands.

Rather, I am prepared

to believe that the figures do provide an approximate indication of
the performance of American institutions in the international banking
business centered in London.




-38VI.

Growth of Edge Corporations
In addition to the rapid expansion of foreign branching, U.S.

banks have accelerated the formation of Edge Act and Agreement Corporations.
As is generally known, these are domestically organized subsidiaries that
serve as vehicles for foreign banking and investment.

Since the introduction

of the VFCR Program, the number of such corporations has more than doubled
and stood at 89 in June of 1972 while their assets grew from $1 billion
to $5 billion.

The growth of these subsidiaries (except where they have

established foreign branches) cannot be attributed specifically to the
VFCR, since they are subject to the VFCR in common with U . S . banks.

Rather,

their expansion is evidence of a growing effort by U.S. banks to compete
for foreign banking business and to exploit foreign investment opportunities.
Expansion of Domestic Edge Corporations
However, the really interesting Edge Corporation story concerns
the growth of out-of-state institutions.

These a re Edge Corporations

located in an area outside of the city in which their parent bank is
headquartered.

Since the Board approved the entry of First National Bank

of Boston into the New York market through its Edge Corporation in 1918,
*

a total of 45 banks have been granted permission to establish outof-state subsidiaries to handle international business.
Table 9 , these banks had a total of 39 out-of-state
which 21 were located in New York City.

As shown in

corporations—of

Of the remaining 18, 7 were

located in Miami, Florida; 6 were in California; 2 each in Chicago and
Houston; and 1 in N e w Orleans.

The 39 out-of-state corporations had a

total of $4.4 billion in assets at the end of last year. About 90 per cent
* This figure includes 18 banks that are joiritowners of Allied Bank
International, which is headquartered in New York City.




-39of this amount was held by the out-of-state units operating in New York.
In other areas, the institutions were started in the last few years.
S o , as expected, they had accumulated only a modest amount of resources
in each location.

In Table 10, the composition of the assets and liabilities

of the out-of-state Edge Corporations is shown.
surprises.

Here also there are no

The activity in New York dominates the picture, but the out-

of-state units are beginning to register their presence in

the other areas.

Regional Competition in International Banking
The extent to which this is true to date can be seen in Table 11.
This table shows the share of international banking business held by the
out-of-state Edge Corporations during the three years 1969, 1971, and 1972.
It w i l l be noted that in New York City, where the volume of international
business obtained by the out-of-state Edge Corporations is large enough
to provide a basis for judgement, these institutions had acquired about
10 per cent of the total international or foreign business held by commercial
banks.

In the case of other locations, the number of out-of-state institutions

which were active last year was so small that a separate discussion of the
situation would reveal data relating to an individual bank.

But in 1972,

the out-of-state Edge Corporations had obtained about 6 per cent of the
market in California, and they had just under half of the market in M i a m i ,
Florida.
In deciding to approve out-of-state locations for Edge Corporations
in areas other than New Y o r k , the Board has had to weigh a number of conflicting
concerns.




Once the decision had been made to permit out-of-state banks to

-40enter the New York market to conduct an out-of-state business, the basic
policy issue had been settled.

In applying that policy, the Board has

approved virtually every application of an out-of-state bank to open an
office in New York in order to conduct an international business.

The

more difficult issue arose when banks began to seek permission to locate
in other areas.

These applications engendered protests in almost every

case from one or more local bankers who were apprehensive about the
effects of increased competition which the newcomers would bring.

These

concerns were enhanced by the fact that all except one or two of the outof-state banks were among the largest in the country, and most of them
already had a widespread foreign branch network as well as secure footing
in the New York market.
In dealing with these a p p l i c a t i o n s — a n d without formally
enunciating it--the Board seems to have evolved a policy under which a
bank has been able to open at least one out-of-state international banking
office in Miami as well as in one other location along the southern border.
The position seems also to allow for another office along the nothern
boundary (and two out-of-state banks have established themselves in Chicago)
and another one or two offices on the West C o a s t .
I personally think that the growing role of out-of-state Edge
Corporations in various areas of the country is a good thing.

I believe

these institutions greatly enliven competition in the international banking
bus iness.

O n the other h a n d , I think it is of crucial importance that the

banks abide by the spirit as well as the letter of the regulations restricting
their activities to international banking.




T o allow the out-of-state

-41offices to be transmuted into outposts from which to compete for domestic
banking business would be inconsistent with the requirements of both the
statute and the regulation prohibiting out-of-state banking as far as
domestic business is concerned.




- 42 VII.

Commercial Banks and Exchange Rate Speculation
At this point, I would like to focus on the significant

role which commercial banks seemed to have played in the sizable
outflows of funds from the U.S. during the intense speculation
against foreign exchange rates in January and February of this year.
Detailed information to appraise the part they played is not
available.

However, through a combination of sources, it is possible

to get enough insights to persuade one that their participation
was by no means trivial.
Some of this information is derived from the reports of
300 or more large banks filed with the Federal Reserve System each
week.

In Table 12 are summarized data on the assets of these

institutions associated with foreign transactions during the eleven
weeks of January 3-March 14.

These data show the level and change

in foreign-related assets during this period for each of the last three
years.

The assets identified are:

with foreign commercial banks,

(1) the reporting banks

1

balances

(2) loans to foreign commercial banks,

(3) loans to foreign businesses, and (4) loans to foreign governments
and official institutions.
In interpreting these figures, it is instructive to divide
the period into two p a r t s — J a n u a r y 3-14 and Februrary 14-March 14.
This distinction allows one to concentrate on the period of intense
speculation leading up to the devaluation of the dollar on February 12
of this year.




One can then trace in the following weeks the extent

- 43 to w h i c h — i f a n y — t h e reflow of bank funds to the U . S . occurred.
Balances with foreign commercial banks (assets over which
the reporting banks have considerable discretion) rose substantially
in the 3 weeks ending February 14.

Frior to that date, U . S . banks

had been in the process of drawing down their foreign claims.

In the

2 weeks following the devaluation of the dollar, some reflow did
occur under this heading,but that was offset in large part by a
renewal of the outflow in early M a r c h .
The most dramatic outflow of funds occurred when foreign
commercial banks drew heavily on their outstanding lines of
credit with U . S . institutions.

Such borrowings had been paid down

during the first 4 weeks of this y e a r .

But that situation changed

drastically beginning in the closing days of January.
an

A t that time,

outflow got underway which produced a net change of $750 million

in the w e e k ending February 14 alone.

The pace eased off somewhat

during the rest of that m o n t h , but a large outflow of over $525 million
occurred in the w e e k ending March 7 . As a consequence, by midM a r c h , foreign commercial banks had withdrawn from the U . S . through
their American correspondents $1.8 billion.
As speculation against the structure of exchange rates
was gaining force, there was a good deal of discussion about the
extent to which American multi-national corporations were participating
in the outflow.

The data reported in Table 12 cannot cast much light

on this issue because the statistics relate to assets held for the




- 44 1

reporting banks own account.

O n the other h a n d , loans to foreign

businesses (some of which are foreign subsidiaries of U . S . corporations)
are reported.

These loans show no definite trend during the period

of intense speculation

although some net outflow under this heading

did occur during the first half of M a r c h .
In summary, taking the four types of transactions in combination,
these U.S. commercial banks experienced a net outflow of $1.3 billion in
the few weeks before the dollar was devalued.
occurred in the following month.

Another $1.2 billion outflow

T h u s , a net balance of some $2-1/2 billion

of bank funds moved abroad during the period of exchange rate speculation.

Several observations are suggested by the foregoing statistics
on commercial bank lending abroad in the earlier months of this y e a r .
In the first place, the pattern is quite reminiscent of the outflows
which occurred during M a y and August of 1971.

In May of that y e a r ,

growing market expectations that the West German Government would
allow the M a r k to float touched off a sizable move out of
dollars and into that currency.

U.S. conmercial banks were drawn

into that stream to a considerable extent, and the foreign assets of
the weekly reporting banks rose over $500 million in that m o n t h .
A t that time also

the bulk of the outflow centered in loans to foreign
1

commercial b a n k s — b u t the U . S . banks loans to foreign and industrial
corporations also rose substantially.

In August of that y e a r , both before

and after the adoption of the New Economic Policy in the U . S . ,
commercial banks in this country were confronted with an enormous
foreign demand for credit.




In response, they expanded their foreign

- 45 assets by $1.5 billion. That was the largest monthly gain in bank
reported • foreign assets since the VFCR program was instituted.
This year, a number of factors seem to have been
associated with the sizable outflow of commercial bank funds.
It seems clear that a number of foreign commercial banks drew
against their outstanding credit lines with American institutions
in order to place the funds in the Euro-dollar market.

Such

an arbitrage possibility was clearly suggested by the interest
rate differentials which prevailed at the time.

Moreover, these

relative rate spreads still favor holding such funds in the Eurodollar market, and that

may explain the failure of a reflow to develop

to date. As far as U.S. commercial banks themselves are concerned,
the modest build-tip in their balances with foreign institutions
may not have reflected foreign exchange activity—since the increases
were primarily in dollars.

Nevertheless, because of the complexity

of the overall situation, such a possibility cannot be ruled out.
So, on the basis of the foregoing analysis, I conclude that
the susceptibility of the U.S. banking system to influences originating
abroad but which result in large capital outflows from this country
remains a serious problem.




-46VIII.

Coinmercial Bank Lending and the Voluntary Foreign Credit
Restraint Program
Over the last year, foreign assets held by U.S. banks

have increased significantly (Table 13).

This trend contrasts sharply

with the very slow growth during the earlier years of the VFCR
program.

As of the end of February, 1973, foreign assets held by

U.S. banks for their own account amounted to $15.4 billion, having
increased by $1.5 billion from the levelof a year earlier.
Of the $15.4 billion of foreign assets reported under
the VFCR by banks, only $9.7 billion was subject to ceilings.
Of the $5.7 billion not subject to ceiling, $4.5 billion was made
up of export credit.

A minor part of these export credit would

have been exempted under provisions in use from the early days of
the Program.

However, the greater part was exempt because of the

full export credit exclusion created in late 1971 under Congressional
mandate.
Although bankers have long been accustomed to looking at the
virtually unchanged amount of foreign lending and investment under the
VFCR ceiling--an observation that is still valid--a feature which has
emerged over the last year (and that is at least as striking) is the large
and rapidly growing amount of foreign assets that are free from restraint.
Today, over one-third of banks' own foreign assets are exempt from ceilings.
The exemption of export credit has led to some deconcentration
of such foreign assets among banks when viewed according to size.

Looking

at banks arranged by size at the end of 1971, about one month after the




-47full export credit exemption was introduced, and at the end of 1972
(Table 14), we can see a reduction in the share of outstanding export
credits accounted for by the 15 largest banks.

(If one looks, not

simply at the relationship of the cummulative percentages by size category,
but at the shift in the percentage difference from one category to
another, one sees a reverse shift going farther down the size categories.)
Thus, it appears that the creation of the exemption for export credit
has been of relatively greater importance to medium-sized and smaller
banks than to the very largest institutions.
One of the most important foreign banking developments under
the VFCR Program in recent months has been the large movement of funds
abroad reported for February, 1973.

Foreign assets for the banks

account rose $1.3 billion in that month alone.

1

own

Several banks went over

their ceilings--generally by small amounts and generally reversed quickly
after the reporting date.

I am aware of the difficulties banks have in

anticipating and in controlling sudden drawings against outstanding credit
lines.

But the VFCR Guidelines ask the banks to keep their covered foreign

assets within the ceilings on a daily average basis, and they are expected
to anticipate—and plan for-- the possible need to adjust their operations
to meet effectively a problem that is a part of their normal banking life.
To the comments I have made on U.S. banks operating under the
VFCR, let me add some remarks on U.S. agencies and branches of foreign
banks.

The data on this category of financial institution presented in

Table 15 show an even more striking picture of outflows than that relatiig
to U . S . b a n k s — a l t h o u g h the data developed for VFCR purposes omit much




-48information that is necessary to analyze their operations.

The foreign

assets of the agencies and branches rose in February by $1.2 billion to
a level of $5.7 billion.

Although a large portion of the rise centered

in the types of assets exempt from restraint under the VFCR Program, the
growth in all categories of foreign assets reported by these institutions
has been quite dramatic in the 15 months during which they have been
submitting regular reports under the program.
Largely because this category of banking institutions relies
very heavily on foreign head office or or other foreign sources for f u n d s —
and because their practices differ in other significant respects as well
from those of U . S . b a n k s — s p e c i f i c ceilings of the types set for U.S. banks
have not been provided for them.

Instead, they are asked to act in

accordance with the spirit of the guidelines, to report, and to consult
as may be frequently requested with the Federal Reserve Banks.
It is no secret that finding a way to apply principles of capital
restraint to these institutions which correspond to those governing the
foreign activities of U . S . banks has been especially

troublesome.

This

issue of VFCR administration has b e e n — a n d continues to b e — u n d e r review.




-49IX,

Prospects for American International Banking
While the foregoing observations relating to the foreign

activity of American banks may be of some interest, I know that many
observers are clearly far more concerned with the outlook for the future.
Unfortunately, while I share the same interests, I am not able to be
very definitive in detailing my own anticipations. In the first place,
the continuing official discussions of international monetary reform of
necessity preclude my going deeply into that subject.

And above all, it

is the eventual revamping of the international monetary system which
will have the greatest influence on the opportunities open to U.S. banks
for doing business abroad.

For essentially the same reasons, I am

unable to sketch with precision the nature of any changes which might
take place in the VFCR.

Neither can I say much about the time horizon

over which these might occur.

Nevertheless, several observations can

be made.
Bank Holding Companies and U.S. Foreign Banking
One of these areas relates to the possible role of bank holding
companies--especially in light of the 1970 amendments to the Act.

Actually,

these amendments have had only minimal effects on the competitive posture
abroad of member banks and their parent bank holding companies.

Prior to

the amendments, a regulated multibank holding company did not require the
Board's approval to acquire foreign institutions "principally engaged in
banking."




Other than this direct investment power for foreign banking

-50institutions, the holding company was limited to the opportunities
provided by sections 25 and 25(a) of the Federal Reserve Act, and it had
to employ its banking subsidiaries or an Edge Corporation for this purpose.
The 1970 amendments added the requirement of Board approval for
a holding company's direct investments in foreign banks.

However, in

section 4(c)(13) of the A c t , Congress gave the Board the authority to
allow the holding company to invest in other foreign companies which
did no business in the United States so long as the Board determined that
the investment would be in the public interest and would not be at variance
with the purposes of the A c t .

In exercising its discretion under this

section, the Board has adopted regulations allowing direct investments
by holding companies in foreign companies if the firm is one in which
an Edge Corporation could invest.

Under the regulations, however, the

capital and surplus limitations which would have applied to the Edge
Corporation investments do not apply.
With respect to the nature of the foreign investments which
may be m a d e , sections 25 and 25(a) and the Board's regulations thereunder
have traditionally allowed a greater range of activities in the foreign
area for member banks and Edge Corporations than have been permitted for
the bank or its parent holding company domestically.

This has been for

the purpose of enabling the banks to remain fully competitive in foreign
banking markets.

The Board's regulations under the A c t now extend this

investment latitude for the first time to the parent bank holding company.
T h u s , the effect of the Act has not been to extend the range of permissible




-51activlties and investments for member banks abroad.

That is, in the

foreign area, before the amendments, member banks already were in a
position to receive approval for those activities now permissible under
amended section 4(c)(8) as well as for some activities not now permissible
domestically, such as the underwriting of stocks and bonds.

So far,

there has been only a modest flow of applications from banks seeking
to do business under the 1970 amendments.
Short-Term Outlook;

Future of the VFCR Program

With regard to the VFCR, it will be recalled that the Administration announced on February 12 that this program will be phased out by
the end of 1974.

The same would apply to the Interest Equalization Tax

(IET) and to the restraints on foreign direct investment administered by
the Commerce Department.

Upon making the announcement, no details were

provided with respect to the timing of any initial steps to implement
the specified policy goal.

Subsequently, at the conclusion of the nego-

tiations establishing a new structure of exchange rates in Paris in midM a r c h , U.S. representatives at that meeting indicated that any ine&auies
aimed at unwinding the restraints on capital outflow would be undertaken
in a way that was consistent with improvements in the U.S. balance of
payments.

Since that statement was issued, there have been no further

official comments from the Administration on the future of the VFCR and
the other components of the capital restraints program.
In the meantime, in light of the sizable outflow of funds
through commercial banks which occurred earlier this year, it is clear




-52that the VFCR Program still has a role in the international financial
policy of the U . S .

For this reason, when the reports indicated that a

number of banks (including some of the largest in the country) had
exceeded their VFCR ceiling in February, the Federal Reserve Banks were
asked promptly to contact each institution to discuss the causes of the
overages, the corrective actions taken, and (to the extent known) the
current position of the bank in relation to its ceiling.
the response of the banks was prompt and cooperative.

As usual,

But the fact that

the overages occurred and were so widespread indicates the continuing
need for the program under the circumstances currently prevailing.

Long-Term Outlook:

Future of American International Banking

Looking beyond the near-term prospects for the VFCR Program,
a few observations can be made regarding the possibility of significant
modifications in the regulatory environment of international banking.
It will be recalled that, on February 1 this year, the Board of Governors
announced that it had been reviewing for some time its regulations relating
to foreign activities of U . S . banks and the regulatory issues arising
from the U.S. activity of foreign banks. . T h e Board said that a review
of international banking regulation was necessitated because of the
substantial growth in recent years in the size and scope of activities
of foreign banks that have entered the United States and the striking
expansion in foreign operations of U . S . banks.




- 52a Because of the Board's long-standing regulatory

responsibilities

over U.S. banks operating abroad, it has had policies in this field of
activity under consideration for some time.

The Board announced that

it was also giving increased attention to the U.S. operations of foreign
banks, as a result of both increased activity in this area and the responsibilities assigned to the Board under the 1970 amendments to the Bank Holding
Act.

The review that is currently under way is focused on structural

aspects of U.S. activities of foreign banks and foreign operations of
U . S . banks.

It does not encompass an assessment of the volume and types

of international flowsof funds through such institutions.
To carry out its review of international banking and its
regulation, the Board established a Steering Committee made up of three
Members of the Board of Governors and three Presidents of the Federal
"k

Reserve Banks.

The review will include consultations with other central

banks and other officials on matters of common interest.

Thereafter,

to the extent required by consideration of effective and equitable
regulation of international banking, the Board expects to consider the
possible need for legislation and to propose changes in its own governing
regulations.

The Board made clear its intention of allowing ample time

for public comment on any possible regulatory changes.
*

They are Governor George M i t c h e l l , Chairman, and Governors J . Dewey
Daane and Jeffrey M . Bucher and Presidents Alfred Hayes of the Federal
Reserve Bank of New Y o r k , Bruce K . MacLaury of the Federal Reserve Bank
of Minneapolis, and John J . Balles of the Federal Reserve Bank of San
Francisco.




- 52b Of course, the nature of the regulatory changes which
might result from the review cannot be foreseen at this time.
However, I am personally hopeful that the range of opportunities
open to U.S. banks will be broadened considerably.

I also hope

the prospective changes will yield substantial equality of treatment
in this country of domestic and foreign-headquartered banks operating
here.

As is generally known, the latter have a number of advantages

(including the ability to operate a banking business in several
states) over U.S. institutions, and I personally believe these
ought not to persist indefinitely into the future.




-53Summary and Conclusions
The main conclusions reached in this paper have been set forth
in each principal section.




Only a few highlights need be emphasized here*

In the last decade, U.S. commercial banks became
much more heavily engaged in foreign lending
relative to the rest of their business. For example,
in 1960, their foreign assets represented less than
3 per cent of their total resources, but the proportion
had risen to roughly 10 per cent by the end of 1972.
To a considerable extent, this growth was a by-product
of the restraints on capital! outflows from the U.S.
(undertaken in the mid-1960 s for balance of payments
reasons), but it also partly reflected an independent
thrust of American institutions into the field of
international banking.
-

In response to the imposition of the VFCR Program in
1965, U.S.commercial banks shifted the direction of
their foreign lending progressively away from Western
Europe and in the direction of Latin America and other
developing areas. However, with the liberalization
of the restraints in recent years, the geographic
pattern of lending has come to look 1much more like that
which prevailed before the mid-1960 s.

-

The network of foreign branches of U.S. banks has
expanded enormously. In 1964, only 11 banks were
operating a total of 181 foreign branches with total
assets of only $7 billion. By the end of 1972, the
number of banks had risen to 107,
the number of
1
branches to 627, and the latters total assets to over $90
billion. Moreover, while the main focus of branch
activity in the earlier period was in the capital
markets of Western Europe (especially in London),
most of the expansion in the last few years has been
in the Bahamas-^and in the Cayman Islands. In both
instances, the move recently has been motivated more by
a quest for a tax haven than because of the
presence of economic and financial connections
normally expected in principal banking centers.

-

The main activity of foreign branches of U.S. banks
in earlier years consisted of taking deposits and
extending loans to corporations and other international
customers who were drawn to the respective markets




-54(again London stood out) in the ordinary course
of their operations. Beginning in 1 the mid-1960's,
however, this part of the branches business was
stimulated greatly as U . S . multi-national corporations
sought funds abroad in order to comply with the direct
investment restraints. Still another major
change
1
occurred in the nature of the branches efforts in
1966 and 1969-70; in these years, they bid aggressively
for funds in the Euro-dollar market which were
rechanneled to their head offices to help ease
the impact of domestic monetary restraint on the
latter.
-

More recently, with the drastic decline in the
demand for Euro-dollars by U.S. headquartered banks-in the face of a considerably expanded volume of
funds a v a i l a b l e — f o r e i g n branches of U.S. banks
have faced an increasingly intensive competitive
struggle to find outlets for their resources. This
competition has shaved significantly the rate spread
which these branches can earn over the basic cost of
money in the Euro-dollar market.

-

Partly reflecting this situation, the rate of profit
which the banks can earn on the resources of their
foreign branches appears to be remarkably thin. For
example, in 1972, the rate of return on the assets
of the London branches of U . S . banks seems to have
been in the neighborhood of 0.12 per cent. This
contrasted sharply with the rate of 0.54 per cent
earned on the total assets of these same U . S . banks-and 0.61 per cent if their London-based assets are
put to one side. For all insured commercial banks
in the U . S . , the rate of return on their total assets
was roughly 0.79 per cent in 1971, and it was 0.98
per cent on their total loans and investments taken
alone.

- While these figures obviously must be interpreted
with caution, they seem to be broadly consistent with
the impressions one obtains through conversations with
American and other participants in the London market.
These low profit margins also seem to be one of the
basic reasons one encounters such persistent concern
about the prospects for some of the U . S . banks currently
operating foreign branches.




-55Commercial banks in the U.S. were significant
participants in the capital outflows which occurred
earlier this year during the intense speculation
against exchange rates. During the period January 3February 14, just before the dollar was devalued,
large banks which report to the Federal Reserve
each week experienced a net outflow of $1.3 billion.
Over the next month, and additional net outflow of
$1.2 billion was recorded. So these institutions
contributed on balance some $2-1/2 billion to the
volume of funds which moved abroad in connection with
the exchange rate speculation earlier this year.
So far, no reversal of the flow has developed.
-

The banks which report each month under the VFCR
Program participated in this outflow to a substantial
degree. In fact, an appreciable number of these
institutions (including some of the largest banks
in the country) ran over their foreign lending
ceilings in February in meeting the demands of their
foreign customers. Virtually all of these overages
had been corrected by the end of M a r c h — a n d most of
them within only a few days after the end of their
reporting period.
Unfortunately, the U.S. agencies and branches
of foreign batiks also participated
substantially in the outflow, and they seem to be
maintaining the greatly enlarged volume of foreign
lending. The foreign assets of these institutions
rose by $1.2 billion in February. While they are
not subject to the same type of restraints which
apply to U.S. headquartered banks under the VFCR
Program, they are requested to abide by the spirit
of the program. The place of these foreign agencies
and branches within the framework of the VFCR Guidelines has b e e n — a n d continues to b e — u n d e r review.

-

As is generally known, the future of the VFCR Program
itself (along with the other elements of the
Administration's restraints on capital outflow) is
now the subject of discussion within the Government.
While these are scheduled to be phased out by the end
of 1974, it has also been announced that any moves to
accomplish that objective would be made against the
background of improvements in the U.S. balance of
payments. Under these circumstances, little more can
be said.

-56-

Looking to the long-run, the future of American
international banking seems to me to be quite
promising. The nature of the regulatory changes
which might result from the review announced by
the Federal Reserve Board in early February
obviously cannot be foreseen at this time.
However, I am personally hopeful that the range
of opportunities open to U.S. banks will be
broadened considerably. I also hope the
prospective changes will yield substantial
equality of treatment in this country of
domestic and foreign-headquartered banks
operating h e r e — s i n c e the latter currently
have a number of advantages over U.S. institutions.

In the meantime, I am convinced that the future of American
international banking is far from pessimistic.

B u t — a s I mentioned at

the o u t s e t — I would not be surprised to see a winnowing out of some
individual participants as the currents of competition in the provision
of international banking services strain managerial talent and erode
profit margins.




-0-

Table 1. International Operations of U.S. Banks: Selected Indicators, 1960-1972
(Monetary Magnitudes are in Billions of Dollars)
1960

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

$4.2

9.4

9.7

9.6

9.8

9.2

9.3

9.7

12.1

13.4

$9.1

13.4

13.6
1.3

12.6
4.0

14.4
4.2

14.7

6.0

16.5
12.8

16.5
7.7

17.7
0.9

17.4
1.4

13
211
9.1

13
244
12.4

15
295
15.7

26
375
23.0

53
459
41.1

79
536
52.6

91
583
67.1

108
627
90.2p.e.

42

1.0

49
1.4

53
1.5

63
2.5

71
3.5

77
4.6

85
5.5

374.1
330.3

401.4
351.4

448.9
394.1

498.1
432.7

527.6
434.1

572.7
479.2

635.8
535.7

1/
U.S. Offices"
2/
Bank credit to foreigners—
2/3/
Foreign deposits — — (other than
due to foreign branches)
4/
Due to foreign branches—
II.

Overseas Branches of B a n k s ^
Number of banks with overseas
branches
Assets of overseas branches—^

8
131
$3.5

Edge and Agreement Corporations
Number
Assets

15
$N.A.

Number of overseas branches

III.

1.2

MEMORANDUM:
All Insured Commercial Banks in U.S.
Total Assets
255.7
Total Deposits
228.4
N.A.
p.e.
1/
2/

3/
4/
5/
6/

11
181
6.9

38
0.9

343.9
305.1

891/

4. 6

661.8—^
550. Obi/

Not Available. Data are for end of year except where footnoted J/ which indicates end of Jane,
Partly estimated.

All data for U.S. offices are on a balance of payments basis.
Bank credit to foreigners and foreign deposits relate to all commercial banks reporting on the Treasury foreign
exchange forms, and include credits and deposits of branches and agencies of foreign banks as well as U.S. banks.
Bank credit includes short-and long-term loans and acceptance credits denominated in dollars; for 1960, some other
short- and long-term claims are also included. Data for 1972 do not include claims of U.S. banks or their foreign
branches or claims of U.S. agencies and branches of foreign banks on their head offices.
Foreign deposits include demand and time deposits of one year or less maturity, and, beginning in 1964, include
negotiable certificates of deposit issued to foreigners and international institutions.
Due to branches refers to the gross liabilities due to foreign branches of large U.S. weekly-reporting banks.
Overseas branches include branches of member banks in U.S. possessions and territories as well as in foreign countries.
Branch assets include interbranch balances.

Sources:

Treasury forms B-2 and B-3; Division of Supervision and Regulation, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System.




Table 2.

Total

Year

Foreign Credit Outstanding at Domestic Banking
Offices and at Foreign Branches of
U . S . Commercial Banks, 1960-72

Foreign Credits
Held by Foreign
Held by
Branches
Domestic
Offices for
Per cent
of
Own Account!' Amount—^
Total

Annual Percentage Change
Total

Domestic
Offices

Foreign
Branches

6.6

4.2

2.4e

36.3

-

-

-

1964

13.3

9.4

3.9e

29.3

-

-

-

1965

15.2

9.7

5.5

36.1

14.3

3.2

41.0

1966

15.6

9.6

6.0

38.4

2.6

-1.0

9.1

1967

17.5

9.8

7.7

44.0

12.2

2.1

28.3

1968

19.4

9.2

10.2

52.5

10.9

-6.5

32.5

1969

25.4

9.3

16.1

63.3

30.9

1.1

57.8

1970

38.3

9.7

28.6

74.7

50.8

4.3

77.6

1971

53.1

12.1

41.0

38.6

24.7

43.4

1972

72.9

13.4

59.5p

37.3

10.7

45.1

CM

1960

81.6

1/

All commercial banks reporting on Treasury Forms B-2 and B-3; includes
credits of U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, as well as U . S .
banks. Covers short-and long-term loans, and acceptance credits denominated in dollars. For 1960, a minor amount of other short-and longterm claims (not denominated in dollars) is also included. For domestic
offices, totals include loans to own foreign branches. Branch totals
exclude interbranch balances and amounts due from head offices.

2/

Data for foreign branches are from U.S. Treasury (From 3954) for years
1965-68. Data for 1969-72 from the Federal Reserve Board (Form 502).

p)
e

Preliminary
Estimated




Table 3«

Domestic Assets and Selected Deposits of U.S. Multi-National Banks, 1964 and 1972
As of December 31. 1964

TOTAL
DOM. ASSETS
Total
Deposits
Bank of America NT&SA
Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A.
First National City Bank
Manufacturers Hanover
Chemical Bank
Morgan Guaranty
Security Pacific
Bankers Trust
Continental Illinois
FNB of Chicago
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Crocker National Bank
United California Bank
National Bank of Detroit
Mellon National Bank
Irving Trust
FNB of Boston
First Pennsylvania
Marine Midland Bank-N.Y.
Cleveland Trust
Total

Note:

14,589
12,177
11,140
6,852
6,182
5,764
4,624
4,373
4,754
4,214
3,790
3,688
3,181
2,772
3,183
3,249
2,192
1,555
951
1,640

14,349
11,445
10,926
6,054
5,377
4,788
4,395
3,754
4,123
3,613
3,312
3,216
2,745
2,508
2,677
2,782

100,870

As of June 30. 1972

DEPOSITS
At
At
Dom.
Foreign
Offices
Offices
1,379
1,391
1,760
332
151
406

1,353
1,092
1,847

12,970
10,054
9,166
5,722
5,226
4,382
4,210
3,707
4,123
3,613
3,312
3,216
2,745
2,508
2,677
2,782
1,774
1,353
1,074
1,847

92,242

86,461

5,781

1,886

-

185
47

TOTAL
DOM. ASSETS
Foreign as
Per Cent
of Total
9.6
12.1
1'6.1
5.4
2.8
8.4
4.2
1.2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

112
-

18
-

-

5.9
-

1.6
-

Total
Deposits
26,086
19,919
17,847
10,972
10,971
9,724
9,162
8,152
7,932
7,405
7,016
6,095
5,761
5,110
4,736
4,043
3,765
3,501
3,136
2,774

32,393
22,823
25,035
11,964
10,787
10,717
9,132
9,521
8,176
7,400
6,711
5,862
5,083
4,802
4,963
4,164
3,974
2,946
4,962
2,361

174,107

193,776

DEPOSITS
At
At
Dom.
Foreign
Offices
Offices
21,667
14,985
13,471
9,024
8,520
6,646
7,721
6,550
5,978
5,195
5,589
4,911
4,468
4,222
3,548
3,165
2,646
2,566
2,610
2,358
135,840

"Multi-National Banks" are those exceptionally large institutions which play a substantial role in
international affairs. All of them have one or more branches in foreign countries, and each one has
a relatively large volume of loans to foreign borrowers on the books of its head office. For a fuller
description of the criteria used to identify multi-national banks, see Andrew F. Brimmer, "Multi-National Banks
and the Management of Monetary Policy in the United States," presented before a Joint Session of the American
Economic Association and the American Finance Association, Toronto, Canada, December 28, 1972, pages 19-23.




10,726
7,838
11,564
2,941
2,267
4,071
1,411
2,971
2,199
2,206
1,122
951
615
580
1,415
999
1,328
380
2,352
3
57,939

Foreign as
Per Cent
of Total
33.1
34.3
46.2
24.6
• 9
15.5
31.2
26.9
29.8
16.7
16.2
12.1
12.1
28.5
24.0
33.4
12.9
47.4
-

Table 4 .

Claims on Foreigners Reported By Banks in the
United States, By Geographic Region
(Amounts Outstanding in Millions of Dollars)
December 31, 1964
Per Cent
Amount
of Total

I.

December 31, 1968
Per Cent
Amount
of Total

December 31, 1972 p
Per Cent
Amount
of Total

Short-Term Claims
Western Europe
United Kingdom
Canada
Japan
Latin America
All other countries
Total

1,210
310
1,004
2,810
2,235
698

15.2
3.9
12.6
35.3
28.1
8.8

1,181
318
533
2,889
3,114
994

13.6
2.1
6.1
33.2
35.7
11.4

2,831
856
1,927
4,172
4,445
2,165

18.2
5.5
12.4
26.8
28.6
13.9

7,957

100.0

8,711

100.0

15,540

100.0

1,707
87
328
430
1,275
544

39.8
2.0
7.7
10.0
29.8
12.7

526
68
428
122
1,375
1,116

14.7
1.9
12.0
3.4
38.5
31.3

802
138
382
315
1,992
1,423

16.3
2.8
7.8
6.4
40.5
29.0

4,284

100.0

3,567

100.0

4,914

100.0

23>917
397
1 :,332
3.,240
3,,510
1.,242

23.,8
3,,2
10.,9
26.,5
28.,7
10.,1

1,,707
386
961
3:,011
4,>489
2,,110

13.,9
3.,1
7.,8
24.,5
36.,6
17..2

3j,633
994
2,,309
4.,487
6 :,437
3.,588

17.,8
4,,9
11..3
21.,9
31,.5
17,.5

12;,241

100,,0

12,,278

100,,0

20,,454

100,.0

Long-Term Claims
Western Europe
United Kingdom
Canada
Japan
Latin America
All other countries
Total
III. Total Claims
Western Europe
United Kingdom
Canada
Japan
Latin America
All other countries
Total

Source:

Treasury Foreign Exchange Reports,

p = preliminary.




Table 5.

TOTAL
Banks

Branches

Banks

Expanding Network of Overseas Branches of Federal Reserve
Member Banks, 1964, 1968 and 1972
(Number)

UNITED KINGDOM
Total
London
Branches
Banks Branches

BAHAMAS
Total
Shells
Banks Branches
Banks Branches

December 31, 1964

11

181

10

17

10

17

2

2

December 31, 1968

27

375

22

33

22

31

6

8

December 31, 1972

107

627

34*'

49

34—'

45

86

94

March 15, 1973

107

627

vfif

49

34*'

45

86

94

Note:
a/

CAYMAN ISLANDS
Total
Shells
Banks
Branches Banks Branches

-

-

-

4

4

-

84—'

2

2

84

10

10

334

482

1

a£>

8

18

b/

Includes 70 banks which have no other branch.

cj

Includes 5 banks which have no other foreign branches; 2 of these 5 have one branch each in the Bahamas which is scheduled to be closed.

162

482

1

Includes 12 banks which have no other foreign branches and 7 banks which have only one other branch located in the Bahamas,

Branches

8
18

A number of banks have branches in two or more areas, so components will not add to total.




Banks
7

-

84

OTHER AREAS

Table 6.

Sources and Uses of Funds of Foreign Branches of U . S . B a n k s , December 3 1 , 1969
(Millions of Dollar*)

All Foreign Branches
jnt
Percentage Distribution
Sources
Uses

Sources and Uses of Funds

Amount

. the Bahamas
Percentage Distribution
Sources
Usea

Branches in the United Kingdom
Percentage Distribution
Per Cent
Sources
Uses
of Total

All Other Branches
Percentage Distribution
Sources
lines

Per Cent
of Total

Per Cent
of Total

Internal System
U . S . Parent
Source: liabilities to U . S . Parent
Use: claims on U . S . Parent
Net Position

719
13,834
13.115

Branches in Other Countries
Source: liabilities to branches
Use: claims on branches
Net Position
Intar-Bsnk Market
Source: liabilities to foreign banka
Use; claims on foreign banks
N e t Position
Foreign Official Institutions
Source: liabilities to tgn. off. Inst.
Usa: claims on fgn. o f f . Inat.
Net Poaltlon
External Market
Source:
liabilities to private fgn.
depositors
Uae: claims on private fgn. borrowers
Net Position
Residual M a r k e t
Source: All other claims
Use: A l l other liabilities
Nat Position
Totat
Source:

ources

20,412
9.707
-10,705

55. S

1,856
537
-1,319

5.1

40
1,293
1,253

5.6
9.4
9.6

7.9

991
1.430
439

36.1
49.5
302.8

123
222
99

5.5
7.7
68.3

-

26.6

14,876
6.908
-7,968

73.9
71.2
74.4

1,931
695
-1,236

1,235
289
946

66.5
53.8
71.7

6,958
6.307
- 651

19.0

4,509
3.458
-1,051

64.8
54.8
161.4

3,873

10.6

2,631
1,940
691

118.2

1.5

17.3

-

585

36,563

-

9.0

3.288

100.0 100.0

Federal Reserve Board, Monthly Report (FR 502) on Foreign
and Liabilities.




11.4
73.9
"773

37.8

2,745
2,890
145

-

82
10.217
10,135

2.0

24,242

Branch Assets

67.9
59.0

-

597
2.324
1,727

83.0

1,631
1,238
393

59.4
42.8
-271.0

9.5
7.2
11.6

3,605
2,104
-1,501

17.7
21.7
14.0

1.3
18.3
0.0

597
223

32.2
41.S
28.4

622
522
100

8.9
9.3
15.4

1,827
2,327
500

26.3
36.9
76.8

287
270
17

7.4
8.2
2.3

1.078
123

16.8
13.2

055
9,294

24.6
32.8
21.0
100.0

100.0

Table 7.

Sources and Uses of Funds

Amount

Sources and Uses of Fund* of Foreign Branches of U.S. Banks, December 31, 1972
(Millions of Dollars
Branches In the United Kingdom
it
Percentage Distribution
Per Cent
Sources
Uses
of Total

All Foreign Branches
Percentage Distribution
Sources
Uses

Branches In the Bahamaa
Percentage Distribution
Sources
Uses

Per Cent
of Total

Amount

All Other Branches
Percentage Distribution
Sources
Uses

Per Cent
of Total

Internal System

1,000

Source; liabilities to U.S. Parent
Use: claims on U.S. parent
Net Position

2.124
1,124

Branches In Other Countries
Source: liabilities to branches
Use: claims on branches
Net Position
Inter-Bank Market
Source: liabilities to foreign banks
Use: claims on foreign banks
Net Position

9,520
9,845

42,531
36,738
- 5,793

-

Foreign Official Institutions
8,486
Source: liabilities to fgn. off. Inst.
1,665
Use: claims on fgn,off. Inst.
- 6,821
Net Position
External Market
Source: liabilities to private fgn.
depositors
Use: claims on private fgn. borrowers
Net Position
Residual Market
Source: All other claims
Use: All other liabilities
Nat Position
Total Resources
Source:

113
1,138
1,025

11.3
53.6
91.2

312
225
87

31.2
10.6
- 7.7

575
761
186

57.5
35.

2,442
5,069
2,627

25.7
51.5
803.3

1,951
706
-1,245

20.5
7.2
-383.1

5,127
4,070
-1,037

53.9
41.3
-325.2

24,776
23.983
793

58.3
65.3
13.7

8,165
5,741
-2,424

19.2
15.6
41.8

9,590
7,014
-2,576

19.1
44.5

6,453
609
5,844

76.0
36.6
85.7

230
498
268

2.7
29.9
- 3.9

1,803
558
-1,245

21.3
33.5
18.1

61.3
44.4
27.5

1,344
4,554
3,210

11.7
19.9
28.1

3,097
8,177
5,080

27.0
35.7
44,5

40.8
40.1
58.0

1,089
1.367
278

10.4

15.5
20.2
-106.1

3,067
2,679

13,091

100.0

11,483
22,910
11,427

-

7,014
6.752
262
80,034

8.8
8.4

100.0 100.0

Federal Reserve Board, Monthly Report (FR 502) on Foreign Branch Assets
and Liabilities.




22.6

13.2
11.5

ToO

TooTo

43.7
39.7
148.1

Table 8. Sources and Uses of Funds of United Kingdom Branches of U.S. Banks,
December 31, 1972, By Date of Establishment: Before and After Year-End 1964
(Millions of Dollars)
Sources and Uses of Funds

All U.S. Bank Branches in
United Kingdom
Amount
Percentage Distribution
Sources
Uses

U.S. Banks with U.K. Branches Established
U.S. Banks with U.K. Branches Established
Before December 31, 1964
After December 31, 1964
Per Cent
Percentage Distribution
Amount
Per Cent Amount
Percentage Distribution
of Total
Sources
Uses
Sources
Uses
of Total

Internal System
U.S. Parent
Source: liabilities to U.S. Parent
Use: claims on U.S. Parent
Net Position

113
1,138
1,025

0.3

Branches in Other Countries
Source: liabilities to branches
Use: claims on branches
Net Position

2,442
5,069
2,627

5.6

Inter-Bank Market
Source: liabilities to foreign banks
Use: claims on foreign banks
Net Position

24,776
23,983
- 793

56.7

Foreign Official Institutions
Source: liabilities to fgn. off. Inst.
Use: claims on fgn. off. Inst.
Net Position

6,453
609
-5,844

14.8

External Market
Source: liabilities to private fgn.
depositors
Use: claims on private fgn. borrowers
Net Position

7,042
10,179
3,137

16.1

Residual Market
Source: Other liabilities
Use: Other claims
Net Position

2,878
2,706
172

6.6

-

Total Resources

43,684-

100.0

Source:

2.6

32
1,091
1,059

0.1

2,166
4,258
2,092

7.2

11.5

14,646
14,750
- 104

49.1

54.9

5,211
409
-4,802

17.4

1.4

5,693
7,322
1,629

19.1

23.3

2,109
2,027
82

7.1

29,857

100.0

6.2
100.0

Federal Reserve Board, Monthly Report (FR 502) on Foreign Branch Assets
and Liabilities.




28.3
95.9
103.3

81
47
34

0.6

3.7

14.3

88.7
84.0
79.6

256
811
555

1.8

59.1
61.5
13.1

10,130
9,233
- 897

73.3

49.4'

80.8
67.2

1,242
200
-1,042

9.0

80.8

82.2

71.9
51.9

1,349
2,857
1,508

9.8

24.5

73.3
74.9
47.7

769
679
90

5.5

6.7

100.0

68.3

13,827

100.0

0.3

71.7
4.1
- 3.3

5.9

11.3
16.0
20.4

66.8

40.9
38.5
86.9

1.4

19.2
32.8
17.8

20.7

19.2
28.1
48.1

4.9

26.7
25.1
42.3
___

100.0

Table 8-a. Estimated Profitability of Foreign Branches, 1972
(Percentage)
(Note: Net Earnings After Taxes)
Rate of Return:
CATEGORY

Total
Assets

London
Assets

1972
Total
less
London

Memo: Foreign
Deposits as
Per cent of
Total Deposits,
June 30, 1972

.54

.12

.61

23.0

3 branches established
before Dec. 31, 1964

.53

.10

. 61

31.1

12 branches established
after Dec. 31, 1964

.55

.14

.61

19.0

15 London Branches

Total
Assets
3 Banks (all foreign branches
combined)
Memorandum:

.44
Total
Assets

Earnings of Federal Reserve
Member Banks:
1968
1969
1970
1971
20 Multi-National Banks

.77
.78
.79
.79
-

10 banks with foreign branches
established before Dec. 31, 1964

-

10 banks with foreign branches
established after Dec. 31, 1964

-




Assets of
Total less
All Foreign Brs. Forg. Brs.
.40

.45

25.6

-

29.9

Earning
Assets
.97
1.08
1.08
.98
-

34.4
-

-

18.1

Table 9 .

Expanding Network of Out-of-State Edge Corporations—
1964 and 1972

Category

1964

1972

Number of banks with out-of-state Edge
Corporations

6

45-

^

Number of out-of-state Edge Corporations

6

39

6

21

-—
—
-----

18
7
4
2
2
1
2

Located in N e w Y o r k
Other Locations
M i a m i , Florida
Los Angeles, California
San Francisco, California
Chicago, Illinois
New Orleans, Louisiana
Houston, Texas
3'

Assets of out-of-state Edge Corporations— ($ mill.) 724
Located in New Y o r k
Other locations
M i a m i , Florida
Los Angeles, California
San Francisco, California
Chicago, Illinois
New Orleans, Louisiana ^
Houston, Texas

724
—
-—
—
--

4,401
3,961
440
123
120
130
67

1/

Out-of-state Edge Corporations are international banking subsidiaries
located outside of the headquarters city of the p a r e n t .

2/

Includes 18 banks that are joint owners of Allied Bank International,
New Y o r k .

3/

Asset figures may differ slightly from those in Table 10 because of
rounding in basic statistics.




Table 10,

Category

1/
Assets and Liabilities of Out-of-State Corporations,"
By Geographic Location, December 31, 1973
(Millions of Dollars)
Other
Locations
Miami
California
New York

Liabilities
Deposits
Acceptances
Borrowings
Other Liabilities and
equity
TOTAL

3,252
200
124

88
30
89

76
21
3

33
15
6

385

43

24

12

3,961

250

124

66

2,435
1,369
157

50
194
6

41
70
13

5
42
19

3,961

250

124

66

2/

Assets — '
Cash
Loans and Acceptances
Other
TOTALAssets

1/

Out-of-state Edge Corporations are international banking subsidiaries
located outside of the headquarters city of the parent.

2/

Asset figures may differ slightly from those in Table 9 because of
rounding of basic statistics.




Table 11* Share of International Banking Business" Held By
Out-of-State Edge Corporations,2/ By Geographic Area, 1969, 1971 and 1972
(Amounts in Millions of Dollars)




Location

1969

1971

1972

New York City
Out-of-state Edges as per cent of total

8,208
9,3

11,453
9.9

14,136
9.7

California^/
Out-of-state Edges as per cent of total

2,045
—

2,853
—

3,394
5.7

3/
Miami, FloridaOut-of-state Edges as per cent of total

-—

-—

149
47.0

1/
2/

3/

Loans and acceptances related to international or foreign
business held by commercial banks and out-of-state Edge Corporations.
Out-of-state Edge Corporations are international banking
subsidiaries located outside of the headquarters city of
the parent,
Although one or more out-of-state Edge Corporations were
established in these locations in 1969 and 1971, their share
of the market is not shown to avoid disclosure of information
relating to an individual bank.

Table 12. Commercial Bank Assets Associated with Foreign Transactions, Selected Periods, 1971-1973
(Weakly Reporting Banks, Millions of Dollars)

Year 1/
I.

Jan. 24

Jan. 31

Feb. 7

Feb. 14

Feb. 21

Feb. 28

Jan. 10

620

554
- 66
465
- 1
394
58

539
- 15
476
11
401
7

479
- 60
421
- 55
393
- 8

506
27
460
39
414
21

573
67
419
- 41
445
31

757
184
438
19
386
- 59

745
- 12
448
10
412
26

533
-212
464
16
380
- 32

652
119
553
89
462
82

635
- 17
713
160
474
12

3,180
- 72
2,864
- 78
1,539
4

3,037
-143
2,873
9
1,513
- 26

3,031
- 6
2,683
-190
1,563
50

3,155
124
2,617
- 66
1,465
- 98

3,441
286
2,661
44
1,459
- 6

4,192
751
2,533
-128
1,485
26

4,,357
165
2,f 604
71
1,,469
• 16

4,402
45
2,496
-108
1,509
40

4,929
527
2,504
8
1,509

5,064
135
2,565
61
1,454
.- 55

3,812
- 13
3,258
7
2,306
49

3,878
66
3,262
4
2,287
- 19

3,917
39
3,207
- 55
2,398
111

3,938

3,993
55
3,220
14
2,298
- 25

3,934
- 59
3,213
- 7
2,385
87

3,,972
38
3,,178
• 35
2,,404
19

4,012
40
3,226
48
2,420
16

4,294
282
3,233
7
2,462
42

4,373
79
3,277
44
2,517
55

7,,546
-151
6,,587
• 72
4,,239
111

7,454
- 92
6,611
24
4,201
- 38

7,427
- 27
6,311
-300
4,354
153

7,599
172
6,283
- 28
4,202
-152

8,007
408
6,300
17
4,202

8t883
876
6,184
-116
4,256
54

9,,074
191
6 ,230
46
4 ,285
29

8,947
-127
6,186
- 44
A, 309
24

9,875
928
6,290
104
4,433
124

10,072
197
6,555
265
4,445
12

1,148

1,152

1,179
27
912
26
784
- 12

1,186
7
912
787
3

1,203
17
906
- 6
795
8

1,222
19
886
- 20
777
- 18

1, 235
13
911
25
772
• 5

1,222
- 13
920*
9
759
- 13

1,239
17
890
- 30
760
1

1,232
- 7
909
19
756
- 4

8,606

8,785
179
7,195
- 28
4,989
-149

9,210
425
7,206
11
4,997
8

10,105
895
7,070
-136
5,03 j
36

10,,309
204
7, 141
71
5,f 057
24

10,169
-14:
7,106
- 35
5,068
11

11,114
945
7,180
74
5,193
125

11,304
190
7,464
284
5,201
8

March 7

March 14

Cumulative Change
J a n . 3, 1973Feb. 14, 1973Feb. 14, 1973
March 14,

Balances with Foreign
Commercial Banks
1973:
1972:
1971:

II.

Jan. 17

i. 3

Level
Change
Level
Change
Level
Change

466
336

137

-122

- 28

275

50

88

940

872

Loans to Foreign Conaercial
Banks
1973:
1972:
1971:

Level
Change
Level
Change
Level
Change

3,252
2,942
1,535

-409

32

- 50

- 31

109

439

III. Loans to Foreign Businesses
1973:
1972:
1971:

1973:
1972:
1971:
IV.

Level
Change
Level
Change
Level
Change

3,825

Level
Change
Level
Change
Level
Change

7,697

3,251
2,257

6,659
4,128

21
-1

3,206

2,323
- 75

- 38

64

128

132

1,186

1,189

-475

371

128

189

Loans to Foreign Gov't. &
Official Institutions
1973:
1972;
1971:

Level
Change
Level
Change
Level
Change

1,156

Level
Change
Level
Change
Level
Change

8,853

-

895
812

8

924
29
812

- 38
796
- 16

66

10

9

23

- 35

- 21

1,252

1,199

-484

394

93

168

-

Grand Total
1973:
1972:
1971:

7,554
4,940

8,694
-159
7, 511
- 43
5,051
111

8,606
- 88
7,497
- 14
4,997
- 54

7,223
-274
5,138
141

17 Dates are for 1973; corresponding dates were selected for previous years.
Source: Balances with and loans to foreign commercial banks and foreign governments and official institutions are from
Weekly Condition Reports;
foreign conoercial and industrial loans are from Weekly (Federal Reserve) Commercial
Reports
and Industrial loan series.




Table 13.

Foreign Assets of U . S . Commercial Banks Reporting
Under the VFCR Guidelines
(Amounts in millions of dollars)
1969-1973
Changes

Dn e c .
1969

CATEGORY
I.

II.

Foreign assets held for own account
A . L o a n s , acceptances, deposits,
and other claims
B . Long-term securities
C . Invest, in foreign subs.
D . Other long-term holdings
Less; VFCR exempt assets
A . Canadian assets
(changes since 2/68)
B . D e l . subs. liab. offset
C . Export credits other than to
residents of Canada
1 . Participated in, or
guaranteed, by Eximbank
or insured b y FCIA
2. Guaranteed by Department
of Defense

IV.
V -

VI.

Aggregate ceilings

2/
e/

Dec.
1971

Jan.
1972

Feb.
1972

Dec.
1972

Jan.
1973

Feb. J a n . 1972 to
1973
F e b . 1972

11.698

12,902

12,671

13.045

14,457

14,097

15,407

374

9,273
161
628
81

9,437
141
781
65

10,515
116
1,005
62

11,700
119
1,021
62

11,455
120
1,032
64

11,810
121
1,045
69

13,058
108
1,222
69

12,657
113
1,261
66

13,931
113
1,293
70

355
1
13
5

1,274

794

1,120

3,111

3,947

3.940

4.097

5,348

5,105

5,699

157

594

266

218
104

536
112

485
112

529
132

927
199

710
206

1,000
211

44
20

290
5

2,789

3,299

3,343

3,436

4,222

4,189

4,488

93

299

1,388*

l,429

1,607

1,654

1,689

+35

153

153

166

+13

2,462

2,382

2,633

+251

—

|

522

-

791
31
1,370

e

e

32
1,83 8

e

e

e

-

32
4

180

63

9,349

9,304

8,587

8,955

8,731

8,948

9,109

8,992

9,708

217

10,092

9,968

9,876

10,032

9,997

10,014

10,252

10,220

10,283

17

-653

8

Aggregate net leeway (IV-111)

743

664

1,289

1,078

1,266

1,066

1,143

1,228

575

Number of reporting banks

169

173

184

194

193

193

219

213

221

0

1,541
10,814

1,563
11,000

1,737
12,252

1,918
13,619

1,960
13,415

1,941
13,751

2,097
15,155

2,384
15,041

2,587
16,518

Data do not include Export Term-Loan Celling (ETLC) and assets subject to that Celling. On December 31, 1969,
the aggregate ETLC was $1,264 million, with total outstandings of $16 million. On December 31, 1970, the
aggregate ETLC was $1,423 million with total outstandings of $190 million.
Deferred payments letters of credit held on April 30, 1968 and currently outstanding,
Estimated.




Jan. 1973 to
F e b . 1973

10,424

-200

Memorandum Items:
Claims held for account of customers
Total own and customers' claims
1/
""

Nov.
1971

10,143

164

3. Other
2/
Deferred payment letters of credit"

I I I . Asaets subject to VFCR (I-II)

Dec. 1/
1970

- -

T

D.

1/

761

%

Table 14. Bank Size and Concentration of Assets Under the VFCR Guidelines, 1964, 1968 and 1972
(Cumulative Percentage Distribution of Selected Assets and VFCR Ceilings)
(Amounts In Millions of Dollars)
Bank Sice
Ranking of
Group
Reporting
(Total Assets,
Banks
June 30, 1972,
Mill, of Dollars)

Total
Assets

30.50

26,085-10,971

December 31,. 1964
VFCR
Assets
Ceilings
Subject
to VFCR
Celllnft

Customer
Claims

Total
Assets

December 31, 1968
VFCR
Assets
Subject
Ceilings
to VFCR
Ceilings

Customer
Claims

Total
Assets

December 31. 1972
Assets
VFCR
Subject
Ceilings
to VFCR
Ceilings

Customer
' Claims

Export Credits
December 31,
December 3 I,
1972
1971

52.39

52.51

40.94

29.28

50.18

51.18

51.53

25.16

39.15

43.98

36.83

52.60

51.34

71.21

43.36

68.24

69.87

66.15

37.59

54.65

60.53

58.87

71.27

66.58

76.57

52.94

76.68

78.62

74.17

46.01

59.98

66.26

61.63

77.91

72.86

81.88

79.13

51.19

65.91

72.40

74.03

81.39

85.07

83.28

55.21

68.77

75.38

75.75

82.78

79.54

71.52

78.32

76.85

84.00

81.95

73.47

80.28

77.42

85.31

83.21

86.70

84.38

9,724-7.405

6-10

44.72

71.51

71.62

7,015-4,736

11-15

54.97

79.91

80.04

4,043-3,136

16-20

60.89

82.90

82.97

83.58

59.05

79.82

3,119-2,442

21-25

65.14

84.53

84.59

84.66

63.32

82.96

2,378-2,293

26-30

69.06

86.10

86.16

85.87

67.09

84.37

86.22

84.92

58.63

2,278-2,060

31-35

72.53

87.52

87.57

86.24

70.56

86.33

88.10

85.68

61.83

2,041-1,958

36-40

75.64

90.00

90.05

89.82

73.68

88.91

90.28

88.74

64.75

75.07

81.68

78.30

1,940-1,727

41-45

78.39

91.54

91.58

90.23

76.46

89.83

91.26

89.52

67.46

76.75

83.42

79.84

87.78

87.68

1,719-1,427

46-50

80.76

92.70

92.74

90.71

78.83

90.66

92.04

90.47

69.76

78.36

84.80

80.91

90.33

88.14

1,408-1,380

51-55

83.06

93.23

93.27

90.94

81.06

91.08

92.30

90.64

71.80

79.55

85.73

81.35

91.44

89.12

1,373-1,336

56-60

85.07

93.52

93.57

91.00

83.13

91.57

92.57

90.89

73.79

80.59

86.51

81.45

92.30

89.69

93.64

93.68

91.09

85.05

92.22

93.16

91.01

75.72

81.71

87.32

82.27

92.72

90.73

93.96

94.00

91.59

86.79

92.81

93.65

91.29

77.51

82.69

88.11

82.67

93.10

91.17

88.41
100.00
179
247,840

93.25
100.00

93.95
100.00

91.84
100.00

83.60
100.00

88.66
100.00

83.81
100.00

9,757

9,270

1,313

79.16
100.00
227
340,978

10,303

9,116

2,105

93.58
100.00
205
3,301

91.49
100.00
227
4,231

61-65

1,329-1,294

66-70

1,253-1,154
1,145-1,100

71-75
All Banks
Number
Total Amounts




87.02
88.85
90.56
100.00
153
166,840

94.34
100.00

94.38
100.00

91.86
100.00

9,964

9,466

1,389

Table

15.

Dec.
1971

Jan.
1972

Feb.
1972

Dec.
1972

Jan.
1973

Feb.
1973

2,838

3,009

3,190

3 j 119

4,676

4,445

5,690

>71

+1,245

2,817

2,987

3,168

3,089

4,660

4,415

5,664

-79

+1,249

21

22

22

30

16

30

26

8

4

Less: O w n Assets of the Types Not
Subject to Restraint

964

1,066

1,077

1,137

1,799

1,859

2,163

60

+

304

A.

Canadian assets

250

273

274

319

389

342

418

45

+

76

B.

Export credits other than to
residents of Canada
1.y Participated in, or
guaranteed, by Eximbank
or Insured by F C I A
2 . Guaranteed by Department
of Defense
3 . Other

714

793

803

818

1,410

1,517

1,745

15

+

228

38

40

40

11
1,361

11
1,466

11
1,694

+

228

+

942

-

942

Foreign Assets Held for Own Account
A.

B.
II.

III.

IV.

V.
VI.

CHANGES
J a n . 1972 to
J a n . 1973 to
F e b . 1972
F e b . 1973

Nov.
1971

CATEGORY
I.

FOREIGN ASSETS OF U . S . AGENCIES AND BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKS
REPORTING UNDER THE VFCR GUIDELINES
(nil 11 ion of dollars; end of month)
1971-1973

L o a n s , acceptances, d e p o s i t s ,
and other claims
O t h e r holdings

Foreign Assets of the Types Subject
to Restraint (I - II)

1,875

1,943

2t113

1,982

2,878

2,585

3,527

-131

Foreign Assets of the Types Subject
to Restraint on November 3 0 , 1971

1.875

1,875

2,040

1,888

1,874

1,876

1,876

-152

0

-71

-73

-94

-1,004

-709

-1,651

- 21

49

51

50

53

60

62

62

3

232
3,049

233
3,220

243
3,411

229
3,318

447
5,107

400
4,815

421
6,084

- 14
- 93

DIFFERENCE:

IV - III

Number of Reporting Institutions

M e m o r a n d u m Items:
U . S . customers' claims
T o t a l own and customers claims




- -

+
21
+1,269