More than 45 of the world's top banks (we didn’t even know there were that many) including Citigroup and UBS, have posted a combined $232 billion in asset write-downs and credit losses since the beginning of 2007. And now the fourth-largest securities firm in the U.S. is deep-sixing three investment funds by taking the value of their assets onto its own beleaguered balance sheet. Here, the latest on how much of a hit is being taken – and why.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm, said it liquidated three investment funds because of ``market disruptions.''

The funds' assets, valued at $1 billion on Feb. 29, were taken onto Lehman's balance sheet, the New-York-based firm said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The firm also bought ``certain deteriorated assets,'' with a value of $800 million, from other unidentified funds, Lehman said.

``The funds used the cash received from the company to either redeem investors in the funds or make alternative asset investments,'' Lehman said in the filing yesterday.

More than 45 of the world's biggest banks, including Citigroup Inc. and UBS AG, have recorded a combined $232 billion in asset writedowns and credit losses since the beginning of 2007, including reserves set aside for bad loans. Falling U.S. house prices and rising delinquencies may lead to $565 billion in residential mortgage-market losses, the International Monetary Fund said in its annual Global Financial Stability report on April 8. Total losses, including those tied to commercial real estate, may reach $945 billion, the fund said.

Lehman was little changed at $40.52 by 11:26 a.m. in Frankfurt trading, after closing at $40.54 in New York yesterday. The stock has dropped 38 percent this year.

The liquidation of the funds was reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier today.

Lehman may write down $2 billion in the second quarter and will face ``difficult'' market conditions this year, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank AG.

Continue reading on Bloomberg.com

Next article » Deal-A-Meal: Star Treatment

Previous article « My Charity: Seeing Eye To Eye