In the United States, the top-tier parent company of a large banking firm generally is not an operating company but a holding company, whose primary purpose is to raise capital and direct the operations of its subsidiaries. Its assets largely consist of cash, liquid securities, and equity and debt interests in its subsidiaries.
Furthermore, the pace and speed of the recovery, differed vastly across countries and regions, with emerging markets proving to be the engine for global growth. Together with record-low interest rates in advanced economies, risk aversion having dissipated and abundant liquidity, emerging market countries started to attract significant capital inflows.