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U.S. banks’ derivatives exposure explodes to $200 trillion

The OCC’s Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities
for the Fourth Quarter 2008 is out. And derivatives exposure is way up. U.S. commercial banks now have a massive $200 trillion with a T in derivatives exposure, which is 14x U.S. GDP.

And here’s the interesting bit, 5 banks have 96% of the exposure. Wanna guess who? Hint, it’s the same big banks getting massive bailouts right now. And one of them has three times the exposure as the next closest company.

2009-34a

Source
OCC’s Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities
Fourth Quarter 2008 (PDF) – OCC website

About Edward Harrison

Edward Harrison is the founder of Credit Writedowns and a former career diplomat, investment banker and technology executive with over twenty years of business experience. He is also a regular economic and financial commentator on BBC World News, CNBC Television, Business News Network, CBC, Fox Television and RT Television. He speaks six languages, a skill he uses to provide a more global perspective. Edward holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University and a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College.

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