anonymous companies

[Wei Dai]

On Fri, 17 May 1996 jamesd at echeque.com wrote:

> In some businesses we can solve this problem by cryptographic control
> mechanisms, such as open books banking.  In others, such as net startups,
> I see no solution other than increased reliance on personal individual
> capital.

I've seen the phrase "open books" used several times in the past on this
list. Can anyone explain what it means or provide some references? 

Wei Dai