Bank of China (BOC) is expected to announce a write-down of some or all of its US$7.95 billion in US subprime mortgage securities from the fourth quarter of 2007, the South China Morning Post reported. The bank had trimmed its subprime portfolio down from US$9.65 billion – the most subprime holdings of any Asian company – and set aside US$322 million to account for potential losses. A significant write-down could mean BOC may post drastically lower profits or even a loss for the fourth quarter. Two of China’s other "big four" banks, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank, announced in August that they held subprime exposures of US$1.23 billion and US$1.06 billion, respectively.
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