Monday, November 24, 2008

Citi's Pig in the Poke: Nuclear Waste

Congratulations!!

You, the taxpayer, now own a New York Bank!

Here's the fine print you haven't seen in the dismally-useless MSM reports:

Citigroup...has about 200 million accounts in more than 100 countries. Its balance sheet has $2 trillion in assets. They also have more than $1 trillion in off-balance sheet assets. (The latter are of great concern because they’re not subject to the same reserve and capital requirements as the normal stuff.)

The red-highlight is the key. Recall the reading assignment I gave you yesterday. Follow the NYT link; the story mentions the "off-balance-sheet" stuff.

By and large, that OBS stuff is nuclear waste.

Don't expect to see Robert Rubin strung up from any lightpoles, although it would be appropriate. After all, Rubin is a Clintonista.

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