But the relative growth of activities in bank holding companies outside the insured depository institution, as well as the increased focus by both management and supervisors on consolidated risk management, may make maintaining BIS Review 47/2000  4  the distinction between the insured bank and its increasingly nonbank affiliates more challenging.
If we let public perceptions, let alone supervisory actions, blur the distinction, we will surely extend the implicit safety net and expand its moral hazard, to the detriment of efficient markets and, ultimately, at high cost to taxpayers.