Offshore debters welcomed

If offshore banks deal only with the big-time, at least one institution in The Bahamas has taken a really big risk on a really big spender.

Debts due Bahamian offshore banks had bounced erratically between $5 and $20 million from 1995 to 2005.

But last year, the secretive group reported a whopping $525 million in debts due Bahamian offshores. To reiterate, that's at least 2,500 percent larger than any one year over the past decade.

There's no telling which of the more than 240 licensed banks and trust companies made the move, as their balance sheets are not exactly available to the public.

The most reliable information comes through the Central Bank's Quarterly Statistical Digest, which reports the assets of offshore banks in conglomerated numbers.