Citi to Support Own SIVs

Citigroup, New York, has committed to providing its own support facility for its structured investment vehicles, a class of financial instruments that have generally been short of liquidity due to the U.S. subprime-mortgage-sparked global credit crunch.The company said it remains supportive of a larger multicompany effort to build an SIV support facility called the Master Liquidity Enhancement Conduit, but wanted to address its own needs immediately due to recent downgrades of its SIV senior debt ratings. SIVs often have some subprime mortgage exposure, but Citigroup said its own is "immaterial" and "indirect," totaling $51 million. The move to resolve Citigroup's uncertainty regarding senior debt repayment on its SIVs is the first major action by the company's new chief executive officer, Vikram Pandit.