Rising above it?

Merrill Lynch's decision to ditch its collateralised debt obligation portfolio in July has been spun as a brave attempt to draw a line under its structured credit losses. But how good is the deal, and does it represent a template for other firms struggling to stay above ground under the weight of subprime writedowns? Peter Madigan investigates

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Merrill Lynch's announcement on July 28 that it would sell the majority of its super-senior collateralised debt obligation of asset-backed securities (CDO of ABS) portfolio to a private equity fund caught the credit markets completely unawares. The surprise turned to astonishment once the terms of the deal were revealed. An illiquid CDO portfolio with a notional value of $30.6 billion, valued at $11.1 billion at the end of the second quarter, was sold for just $6.7 billion - implying an average

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