San Diego real estate blog - Peter Toner

From the BBC Online:  “Swiss financial giant UBS has reported that its writedowns as a result of the sub-prime crisis have more than doubled to about $37bn (£18.5bn).  It is the largest writedown by any bank since the credit crunch began.”

UBS: $37.4bn

Merrill Lynch: $22bn

Citigroup: $21.1bn

HSBC: $17.2bn

Morgan Stanley: $9.4bn

Deutsche Bank: $7.1bn

Bank of America: $5.3bn

Bear Stearns: $3.2bn

JP Morgan Chase: $3.2bn

BayernLB $3.2bn

Barclays: $2.6bn

IKB: $2.6bn

Royal Bank of Scotland: $2.6bn

Credit Suisse: $2bn

Source: Company reports
Timeline: Sub-prime crisis

Is this nuts or what? Maybe they have just decided to take the hit and move on!

Writedown definition: Reducing the book value of an asset because it is overvalued compared to the market value. This is usually reflected in the company’s income statement as an expense, thereby reducing net income.

Peter Toner