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June 11, 2009 at 08:00 PM
WASHINGTON–The Federal Reserve Board suffered paper losses of almost $9 billion, or 19% , in the first quarter of 2009 on risky securities it took over from American International Group Inc. last year.
The data was disclosed in a new monthly report the agency is releasing on the value of assets it has acquired from troubled corporations as part of its efforts to shore up the economy.
These securities are being held in facilities known as Maiden Lane II and III by the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Maiden Lane is a small street next to the New York Fed’s offices.
The Fed purchased the securities from AIG, New York, as part of its effort to prop up the company’s s balance sheet and reduce its need for cash to collateralize its extensive but loss-ridden securities lending operations.
The securities are appraised at fair value, because the Fed plans to hold them to maturity in hopes they will ultimately be worth their face value.
The value of the AIG securities, primarily residential mortgage-backed bonds of various types owned by its life insurance units and taken over by the Fed late last year, dropped 14%, according to the report.
They are being held in the Maiden Lane II facility under an arrangement completed last December. Under the deal, the Fed and AIG both have an equity interest in the facility, but most of the gains will accrue to the Fed when they are sold.
