The chief relevant factors to consider include the extent of reliance on maturity or liquidity transformation, the creation of cash equivalent assets, the use of leverage, and the degree of interconnection with the traditional banking sector.
When growth in nonbank intermediation reflects a migration of traditional banking activities to less-regulated entities, a number of similar considerations are relevant to an evaluation of the costs and benefits of the migration and the potential need for a regulatory response. Here, where the activity is probably quite bank-like, I am going to revert to the use of the term shadow bank.