NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Republic New York Corp.
<RNB.N> said on Thursday that losses on its Russian investments
would force it to take a charge of $110 million in the third
quarter, substantially wiping out its earnings for the period.
The news was a stark illustration of the impact of the
Russian financial crisis on U.S. companies. Republic New York
is the nation's 21st largest bank.
Republic New York, the parent company of Republic National
Bank of New York, also said it was charging $45 million against
its allowance for credit losses for Russian defaults. It said
it was valuing its position in restructured short-term Russian
Treasury bills at 15 cents on the dollar.
The bank holding company, whose assets total some $60
billion, said it was taking the charges in its "tradition of
quickly recognizing and charging-off impaired credits."
Russia this week moved to restructure bank debt as its
tumbling currency and escalating political crisis sent shivers
through financial markets around the world.
The restructuring involved the swap of around $40 billion
of short-term rouble T-bills and bonds into new paper, as part
of a package of crisis measures aimed at cutting the cost of
servicing state borrowings.
((--John Hanley, New York Newsroom +212 859 1713))
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