Liquid Assets of a Bank

Liquid assets are tangible and movable assets which are easily convertible into cash in a crisis situation. Liquid assets are used by lenders to fund their loans. Examples of liquid assets include government bonds and central bank reserves.

To stay alive, financial institutions must have enough liquid funds to pay withdrawals and other immediate financial obligations by depositing holders of checks. But the amount of money they have in liquid form is not enough to cover these short-term obligations and their financial problems will become worse. Liquid assets of the financial institutions should be regularly replenished to make the banking system financially stable. In order to maintain a sufficient amount of money in the economy, the Federal Reserve System will always be in need of additional assets.

There are several ways in which the financial institutions can replenish their liquid assets. One of the ways is by borrowing funds from banks and credit unions. The other way is by issuing debt securities to provide liquidity for the monetary system.

Borrowing from banks and credit unions: Banks can borrow funds from other financial institutions in order to meet their liquidity requirements. However, the rate at which banks borrow funds from other financial institutions is usually very high. This high rate can only be beneficial for the financial institutions because the borrowed funds are used to purchase commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). In return for providing CMBS, the banks can receive interest payments on the principal balance of the loans they have made to other financial institutions.

Issuing debt securities: The assets that a commercial bank or credit union secures as collateral for the loan from other financial institutions can also be used to liquidate its existing liquid assets. Usually, the assets used as collateral to secure loaned funds are Treasury securities, corporate bonds and treasury bills. However, as the value of these securities decreases, the banks’ ability to recover them through the redemption of their treasury bills and the federal income tax on the principal balance of these securities can increase the amount of funds they will have to pay out on short-term debts.

Securing debt securities: As mentioned above, the assets which commercial banks and credit unions can use to liquidate their liquid and non-liquid assets can also be used to secure loans made by them to other financial institutions. But it is important for the banks and credit unions to ensure that the funds they use to secure these loans are not used to purchase more securities. In order to obtain maximum gains from the sale of their assets, they should use a method to redeem the securities before the maturity date of the loan.

In addition to using these methods to secure other financial institutions’ loans, banks and credit unions can also sell their assets in order to raise the funds they need for making short-term payments. For example, if a commercial bank has a large inventory of commercial mortgage-backed securities, it may want to sell some of its assets in order to raise the capital required to make a single payment. If the purchase price of these assets is less than the total loan balance, the bank can sell its securities and cash in order to raise the necessary capital.

Although liquid and non-liquid assets can help the banking system to make its operations more stable, the loss of one type of asset can severely affect the financial condition of a bank or credit union. Therefore, even if there are many types of assets, it is important for the banks and credit unions to maintain a balanced level of liquidity in order to make sure that the economic system is not adversely affected by any one type of loss.