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 UBS touched 50:1.50 Even allowing for differences in the ways in which Europeans and Americans account for bank balance sheets, the gap was significant.
