Shadow banking takes on multiple forms, but is mainly non-commercial banks providing services similar to or the same as commercial banks. The growth in shadow banking has several causes. Increased regulations on commercial banks that limit their service offerings are one factor. Another is the ability of shadow banks to offer higher returns than commercial banks. Such institutions continue to grow because they are offering services consumers want, but can't obtain from commercial banks. Shadow banking is generally lightly regulated or unregulated. However, since the 2007 financial crisis, western governments have examined shadow banking in more detail and have imposed a number of new regulations on their activities. Thus, it is incorrect to say the industry is unregulated unless you specify a particular country where that is true.

Task: read the article on shadow banking and prepare a report to investors that answer the following questions:

What is shadow banking?

What services do shadow banks provide?

What are the advantages of using a shadow bank?

What are the disadvantages (risks) of using a shadow bank?

How Shadow banks are regulated or are they regulated?

Do you recommend that your investor use the services of a shadow bank? And why?