US bank accounting 'masks true debt levels’

Major Wall Street banks are using accounting techniques similar to those utilised by Lehman Brothers in its final days to mask the size of their balance sheets at the end of reporting periods.

By James Quinn, US Business Editor
Published: 6:00AM BST 10 Apr 2010

The banks – which include Goldman Sachs – use complex but perfectly legitimate transactions in order to present investors and the wider market with a brighter assessment of their financial health.

Data analysed by the Wall Street Journal found that 18 major banks were, on average, able to reduce debt levels used to fund securities tradesby 42pc over the last five quarters using repurchase agreements, also known as “repoâ€