The objective of Off-Balance Sheet Activities is to gain insights into, and propose meaningful solutions to those issues raised by the current proliferation of off-balance sheet transactions. The book has its origins in a New York University conference that focused on this topic. Jointly undertaken by the Vincent C.Ross Institute of Accounting Research and New York University’s Salomon Centre for the study of Financial Institutions at the Stern School of Business, the conference brought together academic researchers and practitioners in the field of accounting and finance to address the issues with the broad-mindedness requisite of a group whose approaches to solutions are as different from each other as their respectively theoretical and applied approaches to the disciplines of finance and accounting. The essays are divided into two sections. The first covers issues surrounding OBS activities and banking and begins with a brief introduction that places the essays into context. OBS activities and the under-investment problem, whether loan sales are really OBS, and money demand and OBS liquidity are examined in detail. Section two, which also begins with a brief introduction, focuses on issues of securitized assets and financing. A report on recognition and measurement issues in accounting for securitized assets is followed by three separate discussion essays. Other subjects covered include contract theoretic analysis of OBS financing, the use of OBS financing to circumvent financial covenant restrictions, and debt contracting and financial contracting. The latter two contributions are also followed by discussion essays. This collection of papers is intended to be an interesting tool for accounting and finance professionals as well as for academics involved in these fields. It should also be an important addition to public, college and university libraries.
