Partly, as a result, if we take leverage—the ratio of bank balance sheet to bank capital—as the basic indicator of banking risk, a considerable gap emerged between the United States and the Europeans ahead of the crisis. According to the calculations of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Deutsche Bank, UBS and Barclays, three of the most aggressive European players in global financial markets, all boasted leverage in excess of 40:1, compared with an average of 20:1 for their main American competitors. In 2007, even before the crisis struck with full force, leverage at Deutsche and
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