There are millions more who have substantial net worth and large liquid assets.

FORBES: The Smarter They Are, The Harder They Fall

In regards to leverage, Basel III introduced a minimum 3% leverage ratio and two required liquidity ratios: (1) the Liquidity Coverage Ratio, which requires a bank to hold high-quality liquid assets to cover its total net cash outflows over 30 days, and (2) the Net Stable Funding Ratio, which requires the available amount of stable funding to exceed the required amount of stable funding over a one-year period of extended stress.

FORBES: Basel Barriers: How capital requirements would impede progress in the sovereign debt crisis

Raymond Greaves, an analyst with Merrill Lynch, has calculated that, in March, there were around euro4 billion of net prepayments on the liability side of Alstom's balance sheet for which he cannot clearly identify liquid assets.

ECONOMIST: Alstom