Retail banking

Working for a software company working for the banking group I went to the client site which is an overseas bank and one day asked manager of International banking as what do they consider as the most important creidatbale work in the field of banking.I asked him is it export dealings. The bank Mgr. said. No No---That is all desk work.The most rated part is the credit appraisals. I asked him why? He answered that a lot of visualisation goes into the appraisals like looking into the balance sheets etc. I asked him: Oh then the balance sheets are the most important thing for doing this isn't it? The Mgr. said: No No. The balance sheet is like a Bikini.It hides more than what it displays.