In December 1981, the Federal Reserve permitted U.S. banks to engage in Eurobanking activity on U.S. soil. Prior to this time, U.S. banks engaged in international banking by processing loans and deposits through their offshore branches. Many “shell” bank branches in places likethe Cayman Islands or the Bahamas really amounted to nothing more than a small office and a telephone. Yet by using these locations for book- ing loans and deposits, U.S. banks could avoid the reserve requirements and interest rate regulations that applied to normal U.S. banking. In Figure 5.2 the country of Cayman Islands had $1,656 billion in exter- nal position bank assets in June, 2011. However, most of those are banks owned by another country than Cayman Islands. If one looks at external assets in banks that are owned by Cayman Islands corporations, then the assets are only $2.4 billion. Thus, most of the bank assets in Cayman Island are foreign banks setting up local offices in Cayman Islands.
In December 1981, international banking facilities, or IBFs, were legalized in the U.S. IBFs did not involve any new physical presence in U.S. bank offices. Instead, they simply required a different set of books for an existing bank office to record the deposits and loans permitted under the IBF proposal. IBFs are allowed to receive deposits from, and make loans to, nonresidents of the United States or other IBFs. These loans and deposits are kept separate from the rest of the bank’s business because IBFs are not subject to reserve requirements, interest rate regulations, or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation deposit insurance premiums applicable to normal U.S. banking.
The goal of the IBF plan is to allow banking offices in the United States to compete with offshore banks without having to use an offshore