Merrill's Exposure to Risky Debt Grows to $27.2 Billion

Companies: Merrill Lynch & Co IncBy Reuters | 08 Nov 2007 | 08:42 AM ET Font size: Merrill Lynch said its total exposure to risky collateralized debt obligations and subprime mortgages is $27.2 billion, or about $6.3 billion more than what the company disclosed late last month.

Merrill's larger figure is mostly because of a deeper level of disclosure surrounding its banking operations. For the first time, the world's largest brokerage disclosed $5.7 billion worth of exposure to U.S. subprime mortgages at Merrill Lynch Bank USA, a Utah-chartered industrial bank, and Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust Co., a full-service thrift.

Those operations file disclosures and financial statements with U.S. banking regulators, which have not required details on subprime exposure.

Merrill Lynch added that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating matters related to its subprime mortgage portfolio.

Merrill Lynch said SEC staff initiated the inquiry on Oct. 24, the same day the company reported a $2.3 billion loss for the third quarter, mostly because of writedowns of subprime mortgage related assets. Merrill made the disclosure in a quarterly SEC filing. The company said it is cooperating with the SEC.

In addition, Merrill said its exposure to CDOs is now $15.82 billion, or about $600 million more than what the company revealed in its third-quarter earnings release on Oct. 24. The figure is larger because a hedge against potential loss was terminated recently after a dispute with a counterparty, which Merrill declined to name.


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CDOs and subprime mortgages were largely responsible for Merrill's $2.3 billion loss in the third quarter, the largest in the company's history. An $8.4 billion write-down, mostly related to subprime mortgages and CDOs, triggered the loss.

Analysts fear Merrill and other Wall Street banks will have to record further write-downs on their exposure because the market for CDOs and subprime mortgages remains in turmoil. Analysts at Citigroup estimate banks will take up to $64 billion more in write-downs, mostly from CDO-related exposure.

Mike Mayo, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, has estimated that Merrill's additional write-down could top $10 billion.

U.S. banks have had to slash the value of CDOs and subprime mortgages because they are linked to a rising tide of defaults on home loans given to borrowers with weak credit.

Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/21679845