TIMEBOMBS in the Vault

摘要

They didn't want to do it, but they had no choice: J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America and other banks shelled out unsecured loans of $3 billion to the doomed Enron Corp. in October, weeks before the firm collapsed into Chapter 11 amid accusations of fraud, self-dealing and a cover-up. The fallout was ugly. The $3 billion loan sells at 20 cents on the dollar today, posing a potential writeoff of $2.4 billion for the 46 banks involved. All told, J.P. Morgan Chase's total Enron exposure cost it $450 million in the December quarter, pushing the bank into the red. Citigroup took a charge of $228 million and could be forced to take still more, given Enron's moribund state; the sum amounts to only 50% of its unsecured exposure to Enron. Northern Trust took a $43.5 million charge.