what is a western account 
a western account is a type of agreement among underwriters aau in which each underwriter agrees to share responsibility for only a specific portion of the overall new issuance they are the opposite of an eastern account in which each underwriter shares responsibility for the entire issuance western accounts are popular among some underwriters because they reduce each underwriter s risk these accounts lower each participant s effective liability should the new issuance prove more difficult than expected on the other hand western accounts also limit the potential upside enjoyed by underwriters in the event that the new issuance is unusually successful 