The Wall Street Journal-20080213-Credit Crunch- In Brief

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Credit Crunch: In Brief

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Citigroup Will Support

Six SIVs on Its Books

Banking giant Citigroup Inc. will provide $3.5 billion of support facilities to six of the seven structured investment vehicles it took on its balance sheet last year, in an effort to maintain the top ratings on their senior debt. The facilities haven't been drawn upon, but are designed to provide additional capital should the market value of the junior notes in the SIVs approach zero, said Jon Diat, a spokesman for the bank. When Citi took the SIVs onto its balance sheet in December, the assets totaled $49 billion. The volume of SIV assets could now be lower, as people familiar with the situation said the bank has continued to sell assets to settle maturing debt.

Federated Will Manage

Florida Investment Pool

Florida chose Federated Investors Inc. to take over management of its local-government investment pool, hoping the firm will reassure investors in the wake of a run, in which more than $15 billion was withdrawn in a panic last year. The pool was managed by the State Board of Administration when it was rocked by a run after mortgage- related securities it held were downgraded.The fund takes cash from cities, school boards and other local governments and invests it in a way similar to a money-market account. The run that drained more than half the fund's assets shut down the pool temporarily, but some confidence was restored under the interim management of outside investment firm BlackRock Investors Inc. BlackRock was one of three firms seeking to be the permanent manager, but lost out to Federated, the lowest bidder.

-- Associated Press

Centro Is Close to Gaining

Extension From Lenders

Centro Properties Group, one of the largest landlords in the world, said it is close to securing an extension from its lenders on $3.4 billion of short-term debt due Friday. A spokesman for the Australia- based retail-property owner said the length of an extension remains undecided. Providing momentum for Centro's push for the extension is the emergence of potential bidders for the company, according to people familiar with the situation. The company has declined to identify the potential bidders. Among the U.S. companies previously identified by people familiar with the matter were Blackstone Group and General Electric Co.'s GE Real Estate, both of which declined to comment yesterday.

Deloitte & Touche Will

Receive U.K Bank's SIV

Deloitte & Touche LLP said it was appointed the receiver of Standard Chartered Bank PLC's structured investment vehicle, Whistlejacket Capital, after a drop in the value of its assets forced the bank to abandon an initial bailout plan. Standard Chartered, a United Kingdom- based bank that does most of its business in Asia, said Monday that Whistlejacket had been forced into receivership after a fall in the market value of its assets triggered an enforcement event. Deloitte & Touche, the U.S. affiliate of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, said Neville Kahn, Nick Dargan and Nick Edwards have been appointed receivers, and will work closely with Standard Chartered to assess investors' options.