Compare this with the average business in New Zealand, for which this figure is about 55%.9 If you are surprised by this fact, I encourage you to confirm this for yourself by taking a look at your own bank’s balance sheet on our Financial Strength Dashboard, which is available via our website.10 Figure 1: Shareholder equity to asset ratios, New Zealand banks, non-bank businesses and NZX-listed property trusts % of assets  Equity (capital)  Debt  100  100  90  90  80  80  70  70  60  60  50  50  40  40  30  30  20  20  10  10  0  0 New Zealand banks  non-bank New Zealand NZX-listed property trusts businesses Source: Registered banks’ Disclosure Statements, Statistics New Zealand, company reports Note: NZX-listed property trusts is an aggregate of the balance sheets of Kiwi Property Group, Goodman Property Trust, Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited, Argosy Property Limited, Property For Industry Limited, Stride Property Limited, as at the most recently available balance date.
It is not clear to me why this discrepancy between banks and other businesses is so large, but perhaps at least part of it can be explained by the fact that, historically, governments have been much more reluctant to allow a bank to fail than other types of businesses, which may lead banks to operate closer to the edge.