Spain banks told to devalue property assets-report
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 @ 12:15 PM
MADRID, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Spanish banks have been told by the Bank of Spain to devalue the housing assets on their books by 20 percent, El Mundo reported on Wednesday, citing sector sources.
The Bank of Spain was not immediately available for comment.
Spain's banks hold property worth an estimated 100 billion euros ($137.1 billion) the newspaper said, taken on over the last couple of years as property companies went bankrupt and their creditors forced to mop up their unsold assets.
Analysts are concerned the country's banks have been keeping a lid on potential losses by valuing the homes on their books at pre-crisis levels, while real property prices have dropped by more than 14 percent from their high in 2007.
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