Bank credit losses tipped to hit $1.6trn

The world’s second largest hedge fund says it expects bank losses to increase four-fold on the $400bn already reported and go way beyond the IMF’s $945bn total loss estimate. In a confidential study leaked to Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung, Bridgewater says it has “large doubts” financial establishments have the required capital to cover the losses. “We stand before an avalanche of distressed net assets,” the firm says. Citigroup has taken the hardest hit so far, with $42.9bn in losses and write-offs – followed by UBS ($38.2bn) and Merrill Lynch ($37bn). IFAonline