A bank is a financial intermediary and money creator that creates money by lending money to a borrower, thereby creating a corresponding deposit on the bank's balance sheet. Lending activities can be performed directly by loaning or indirectly through capital markets. Due to their importance in the financial system and influence on national economies, banks are highly regulated in most countries. Most nations have institutionalized a system known as fractional reserve banking, central banking, under which banks hold liquid assets equal to only a portion of their current liabilities. In addition to other regulations intended to ensure liquidity, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, known as the Basel Accords.