Bloomberg writes "'Shadow' Lenders' Emergency Fed Loans Benefited Biggest Banks". The article says, "The Federal Reserve gave more support to the world's biggest financial companies, including Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc. and Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, than the direct loans it disclosed this month in response to congressional mandates. That's because about $140 billion, or 20 percent of the Fed's Commercial Paper Funding Facility, went to affiliates of four firms that provided financing to banks and other companies: Hudson Castle, BSN Holdings, Liberty Hampshire Co. and Northcross, central bank data show. Banks around the world benefited. The affiliates were vehicles known as conduits -- part of what a Fed report in July called the 'shadow banking' system that removed assets from companies' balance sheets and turned toxic debt into top-rated securities."
