Excellent points, and I'm not necessarily condoning the practice (I don't control that). It does seem they are trying to call a bluff where you either expose the bluffer or get locked in to a rate above market. I can't recall an instance where the stub was provided and the client didn't make a competitive offer, but my data set isn't large.

Maybe it's a "There must be a reason they value them so much" (even though we don't see it) sort of thing. Hardly an uncommon situation. Doesn't mean it worked out in the end :-)