UBS Completes Distressed Debt Sale
UBS
(UBS) - Get Report
on early Wednesday said it had sold $15 billion in risky mortgage-related securities at a steep discount to a distressed asset fund managed by
BlackRock
(BLK) - Get Report
.
The positions, primarily subprime and Alt-A, had a nominal value of $22 billion, UBS said in a statement. The Zurich, Switzerland-based bank signaled the sale earlier this month when it reported a
of $19.5 billion tied to U.S. real estate and structured credit.
"Risk reduction remains a critical part of our ongoing financial restructuring and this sale is a big step towards further reducing our positions in this asset class," UBS Group CEO Marcel Rohner said in a company statement. "We continue to manage our legacy risks in a flexible and creative way in the best interests of our shareholders."
BlackRock is 49%-owned by
Merrill Lynch
(MER)
, which along with
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
has been one of the hardest hit U.S. banks in the credit crisis.
UBS' Swiss rival
Credit Suisse
(CS) - Get Report
and Germany's
Deutsche Bank
(DB) - Get Report
also have been hit hard by writedowns in the first quarter.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.









