Equally, according to a latest report in The Economist, the risk-weighted assets of two big European banks viz., Barclays and Deutsche Bank are about 25% of their total assets underscoring a very high level of absolute leverage.
The fact that they do not establish a time limit for the credit actually granted creates problems for the calculation of interest and lessens their eligibility as collateral; in order to accept such loans as collateral, the Bank of Italy has recently asked for the inclusion of specific contractual clauses.