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Comment by imgabe | Hacker News Reader

From the link in the article ( http://www.aigprivatebank.com/IndexF.cfm?New=1c=4 ) in the footer of that page:

Edit; It looks like it has been sold to an Abu Dhabi holding company, probably since the book was written, but it was formerly owned by AIG. I'm not sure why their website says they're still owned by AIG. Strangely, for a bank he claims has multiple billionaire clients, it was sold for only $254 million.

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"Edit; It looks like it has been sold to an Abu Dhabi holding company, probably since the book was written, but it was formerly owned by AIG. I'm not sure why their website says they're still owned by AIG. Strangely, for a bank he claims has multiple billionaire clients, it was sold for only $254 million."

Not really. Chase has ~800 billion in deposits. You don't see it being valued at $800 billion. That is because every deposit is a liability just like how cash is an asset and most of the cash is loaned out which turns it into more assets. In a well run bank, these assets and liabilities cancel each-other out very closely (wrt banking reserve requirements etc...) and don't factor directly into the value of the bank.

Thanks, that makes more sense now.

This is a very well informed community. Without coming off sounding like one of those guards from Slumdog Millionaire, may I ask, how do you guys know all this?

This has a pretty good layman's explanation as well as how banks are being affected by the current economic turmoil.

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=375

In my case, I am actually much more interested in econ. and business. CS is just something I do as well, thus my interest in banking regulation, accounting, and valuations techniques (though I am, by no means, an expert on any of those subjects...).

As it so happens, CS people are much better at computers than economists etc... though there are some excellent econ. blogs on the internet which I enjoy reading.

Its a matter of specialization. I just happen to have banks as on of the things I try to specialize in.

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