11  Exposures include the following types of off-balance-sheet activities: standby letters of credit, participation in bankers' acceptances, retained recourse on assets sold, securities lend, derivatives and unused loan commitments. Bank supervisors weight the volume of these activities by a conversion factor to obtain their credit equivalent. Because of modifications to Call Reports, the off-balance-sheet activities with available credit equivalents have changed over time.
6  BIS Review 40/2009  pace. This loan growth may reflect that smaller banks in strong financial condition are finding that they can gain creditworthy customers – even in the current economic environment – as other banks cut back on lending to conserve capital and liquidity.