LEHMAN CUTS JOBS IN ALT-A
Bloomberg
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September 7, 2007 -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which shut its subprime mortgage business last month, is cutting 850 more jobs, mostly at a U.S. subsidiary catering to borrowers with decent credit scores.
Lehman, the biggest underwriter of U.S. mortgage bonds, is also closing its Korean home loan business, the New York-based firm said in a statement yesterday. The bulk of the firing will be at Aurora Loan Services LLC, the U.S. unit that makes so-called Alt-A loans to borrowers whose credit ratings fall just short of standards for regular prime mortgages.
National City Corp., Ohio's largest bank, said yesterday that it too would sever 800 employees and take a $200 million pretax charge in the third quarter because of losses in its mortgage business.
"As the outlook in these parts of the mortgage market remain negative, it makes sense to cut down capacity," said Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co, referring to Lehman's announcement.