It makes them a brokerage, doesn’t it? Not a shadow bank.

It's worse than "shadow bank". It's bank who is allowed to print money at its whims and create any arbitrary leverage it wants.

Well, that's what the 'shadow' in 'shadow bank' means: less/different regulation than a normal bank.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, btw.

Where's the "bank" in this "shadow bank"? You're describing a casino with a money printer.

"Shadow banks" aren't necessarily "banks". See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_banking_system

> The shadow banking system is a term for the collection of non-bank financial intermediaries (NBFIs) that provide services similar to traditional commercial banks but outside normal banking regulations.[1] Examples of NBFIs include insurance firms, pawn shops, cashier's check issuers, check cashing locations, payday lending, currency exchanges, and microloan organizations.[2][3] The phrase "shadow banking" is regarded by some as pejorative, and the term "market-based finance" has been proposed as an alternative.[4]

You're moving the goalposts a bit there

The phrase already existed. If there was no more to it than you could immediately guess from the words, then it would be a useless term.

What would you say a non shadow bank is? "Money printing" is "just" a reserve ratio near or less than 0.