The (sizable) Role of Rehypothecation in the Shadow Banking System

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Guess it depends on who is saying that and how you define "known"

since most of the figures are notional, not real.
and most of the figures are counting the derivative exposure, which cannot be known until the banks/funds they are covering explode. You can only have "worse case" and "best case" scenarios..
all of which are in numbers bigger than the entire GDP of the planet anyhow.

I personally like the explanation that this is a game of musical chairs, last bank left standing.
While entire countries swirl down the drain, the banks are in a last ditch effort to grab pension funds, gold supplies, resources, etc.