BANKING HEADS FOR A NEW PATCH OF THIN ICE.

The article discusses the corrective steps taken by various banks in the U.S. to deal with the debt crisis. The banks are writing standby loans, arranging interest-rate swaps, and creating other forms of business that generate money but do not count as assets on their balance sheets. The new banking trend has encouraged new firms to enter into the swaps market, because they expect to become major players in the market.