Text 2 Eurodollars

Many foreign banks as well as foreign branches of U.S. banks accept deposits of U.S. dollars and grant the depositor an account denominated in dollars.  Those dollars are called Eurodollars.  They exist under quite different constraints from domestic dollars.  While Eurodollar banking got its start in Europe, such banking is now active in major financial centers around the world. 

Importance of Eurodollars

Today the Eurodollar market is the international capital market of the world.  It includes U.S. corporations funding foreign operations, foreign corporations funding foreign or domestic operations, and foreign governments funding investment projects or general balance-of-payment deficits. 

Overseas branches of a U.S. bank are treated as an integral part of the parent bank.  In its published statements the parent bank consolidates the assets and liabilities of all branches, domestic and overseas, and it has just one account at the Fed, held by the head office.  However each overseas branch keeps its own books for day-to-day operations.

Suppose the AAA Corporation draws a check for five million dollars on Citibank, its New York bank, and deposits it at a London Eurodollar bank.  The result is that the ownership of five million U.S. dollars has passed from AAA to the London bank in exchange for a Eurodollar time deposit.  The London bank now holds a deposit at Citibank balanced by a liability, the time deposit credited to AAA. 

Since that money earns no interest at Citibank, the London bank will use the funds to make a loan, say to the BBB Corporation which banks at Wells Fargo.  Citibank will then show a decrease of five million dollars on deposit at the Fed and a decrease in liability of that amount to the London bank.  Wells Fargo will gain that deposit at the Fed and an equal liability as a deposit for BBB.  The London bank will record a loan of five million dollars to BBB balanced by a time deposit owed to AAA. 

Eurodollars Never Leave the u.S.

Regardless of where they are deposited, London, Bahrain, or Singapore, and regardless of who owns them, Americans or foreigners, Eurodollars never leave the U.S.  Note that throughout both transactions there was no change in banking system reserves at the Fed, and the $5 million remained on deposit at a U.S. bank. 

In this example, the London eurobank is acting as a financial intermediary in U.S. dollars.  It is doing much the same as any U.S. non-bank intermediary, like a finance company or a pension fund.  Unlike domestic U.S. banks, Eurobanks cannot create money in U.S. dollars through the act of lending.  Their lending only transfers ownership of deposits at U.S. banks. 

Eurobanking Practices

Banking ground rules in the Euromarket differ sharply from those in the U.S. domestic arena.  One important distinction is in the character of their liabilities.  In the Euromarket, all deposits with the exception of call money have a fixed maturity that may range from one day to five years.  Also, interest is paid on all deposits, the rate being determined by market conditions.

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