Investment banker FBR Capital Markets Corp., which recently threw its subprime division into bankruptcy, lost $27.8 million in the fourth quarter. In a statement, FBR blamed the performance on impairment charges tied to its investment portfolio and merchant banking business as well as severance costs. Last month FBR's First NLC Financial Services unit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At one time, First NLC was a top-20-ranked subprime lender. Between 2002 and 2005, FBR took several subprime mortgage firms public, converting them to a REIT ownership structure.
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