Possession of assets in excess of a person or a firm’s liabilities. Where the assets are either cash or marketable securities it may be obvious that a person or firm is solvent. It is an offence to trade knowing oneself to be insolvent, but if the assets are non-marketable solvency is largely a matter of judgement. Individuals can and do obtain unsecured loans, which they rely on future earnings to repay. Companies frequently trade successfully and pay off all their debts, when they would have been insolvent if forced into premature liquidation. In such cases the assets consist of patents, know-how, or contacts which could not be sold but were able to yield an income if kept together as a going concern.