US Banks Have $176B Exposure To Weak Euro Countries -Report

According to a report by Barclays Capital, 73 large U.S. banks have exposure of $82 billion to Ireland, $68 billion to Spain, $18 billion to Greece and $8 billion to Portugal. The report said the level of exposure was relatively low. It also suggested U.S. banks faced limited risk because much of the balance was collateralized.

“Most of this exposure, which includes low-risk collateralized transactions such as repurchase agreements, is concentrated at the 10 largest U.S. banks,” Barclays analysts Jonathan Glionna and Miguel Crivelli said in the report. “In aggregate, exposure to these four countries is approximately 5% of the total foreign exposure of U.S. banks.”

Only two of the U.S. major banks–J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK)–disclosed exposure any of the countries.

Citing the banks annual reports, the analysts said J.P. Morgan had $18.4 billion in exposure to Spain, while Bank of New York Mellon Corp. had $2.32 billion exposure to Ireland.