The ratio of total liabilities to total assets for the 12 largest bank holding companies for a recent year are shown in the table below. The average ratio of total liabilities to total assets for the group is 91.1%. This means that the average debt held by these banks is over 91% of their total assets, which is much more than in any other industry.

Why are these ratios solarge?

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Bank Holding Company Citigroup Inc. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank of America Corporation Wachovia Corporation Wells Fargo & Company Taunus Corporation U.S. Bancorp Suntrust Banks, Inc. National City Corporation Cltizens Financial Group, Inc. ABN AMRO North America Holding Company Countrywide Financial Corporation Ratio of Total Liabilities to Total Assets 0.925 0.908 0.910 0.898 0.911 0.987 0.900 0.896 0.906 0.848 0.939 0.906 Average 0.911