A loan between private parties, or between a principal and a private company, is intended to remain a private matter. The terms are negotiated; the documentation is held by the parties; the existence of the arrangement is not, on its face, public.

Several conventions of modern finance lift the loan from privacy into the record. Where the loan is secured against an asset, a charge is registered against that asset in a public register. Where the lender is a regulated entity, the lending may appear in periodic disclosures. Where the borrower is a company subject to filing requirements, the loan may appear in the accounts. Where the loan is to a director, separate disclosure rules typically apply.

The detail captured by these registrations is often greater than the parties realise. The amount; the date; the maturity; the security; the lender's identity; the borrower's identity. In some jurisdictions, the underlying purpose. None of this requires any breach of confidence; it is the routine cost of using assets to support an arrangement.

The inferences drawn from these registrations are well within the capacity of any attentive observer. A charge registered against a property indicates leverage. A lender whose name suggests a particular institution indicates the relationship. A charge that is later released indicates a repayment or refinancing. Taken together, the registrations describe the principal's liquidity and the institutions they bank with.

Where the loan must be secured, the registrations are usually unavoidable. What can be considered is the choice of structure, the choice of jurisdiction, and the framing of related disclosures, so that the registered picture conveys what is necessary for legal effect without inviting further inference than the matter requires.