More, More, More

The bleeding continues. AP (12.10.07):

"Swiss banking giant UBS AG said Monday it will write off a further $10 billion on losses in the U.S. subprime lending market and will raise capital by selling substantial stakes to Singapore and an unnamed investor in the Middle East.

UBS will now record a loss for the fourth quarter and said 'it is now possible that UBS will record a net loss attributable to shareholders for the full year 2007.'"

Subprimes Force UBS to Write Down $10B

Foreigners to the rescue. "UBS said that the government of Singapore Investment Corp., or GIC, is investing 11 billion francs ($9.75 billion), while an undisclosed strategic investor in the Middle East is contributing the other 2 billion francs ($1.77 billion)."

So what happened? "'Conditions in the U.S mortgage and housing markets have continued to deteriorate, and we have updated our loss assumptions to the levels implied by the current distressed market for mortgage securities,' the company's chief executive, Marcel Rohner, said in a statement."

Meaning the market got a lot worse than they thought it would, and they're hoping like hell it doesn't get even worse.