Citigroup, Fed Said to Weigh Plan to Limit Losses (Update2)
By Bradley Keoun, Alison Vekshin and Christine Harper
Nov. 23 (
Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. and U.S. regulators are in talks to limit the bank’s potential losses on more than $100 billion of toxic assets after the stock’s plunge last week sparked concerns about the company’s fate, four people familiar with the matter said.
The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department have been locked in discussions with Citigroup and other regulators throughout the weekend and a deal may be reached as soon as today, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. The plan under consideration calls for the assets to remain at Citigroup, with the government agreeing to assume losses beyond a specified amount, two of the people said.
The holdings that may be guaranteed are a portion of the $400 billion pile of mortgages, bonds, auto loans and corporate loans that Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit pledged in May to shed within three years, the two people said. While the amount to be covered under the plan is under discussion, the talks are focused on about $100 billion to $200 billion of the assets, they said.
“If anybody’s too big to fail from the financial system’s point of view, it’s Citi,” said Brian Barish, president of Cambiar Investments LLC in Denver, which manages about $6 billion and doesn’t own Citigroup stock. “The government doesn’t need to be in this to make money. If they lose a few bucks on this, but save the system, it’ll be worth it.” .......(more)
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