Thursday, March 3, 2011

Citi (C), Bank of America (BAC) Cut Lending in Europe

Banking giants Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) said in reports that they cut bank on their lending in Europe during 2010, citing the sovereign debt crisis in the region.

While Citigroup's cross border outstandings rose by about 5% in the U.K. and 7% in France in 2010 versus 2009, they fell by 41% in Italy, 35% in the Netherlands and 15% in Germany. Commitments to all five countries fell in 2010, dropping by less than 3% to Italy but plunging over 15% in the other four countries.

Citigroup's total cross border outstandings in the five European countries was $104.7 billion in 2010, while commitments for the same group added up to $249.3 billion last year.

By contrast, India, Mexico and Brazil all saw increases in both commitments and cross border outstandings from Citigroup, while exposure to South Korea remained roughly flat. The tenth country, the Cayman Islands, also saw a slight drop in each category.

As for Bank of America, total European exposure fell by $22.7 billion to $148.1 billion in 2010. The bank said the decrease "was primarily driven by our efforts to reduce exposure in the peripheral Eurozone countries and sale or maturity of securities in the U.K."

Citigroup was trading at $4.64, up $0.05, or 0.98 percent, as of 12:31 PM EST. Bank of America was trading at $14.10, gaining $0.27, or 1.99 percent.




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