To be fair to BofA and Citi, it's a mistake that could have happened to anyone who had massive teams of lawyers and accountants. Gosh, some people are such nitpickers. Funny how those two banks were among the hardest hit during the crisis but that was surely a simple coincidence. It could have happened to anyone and was surely an accident since intentional hiding of debt would be a violation of SEC rules. CNBC:
Bank of America and Citigroup incorrectly accounted for billions of dollars in debt over the past three years, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The report highlights a form of corporate borrowing increasingly under scrutiny since the financial crisis began. The loans, known as "repos," or short-term repurchase agreements, allow banks to increase the amount of risk they can take in securities trading.
Both BofA and Citigroup disclosed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that they have over the last three years accidentally classified some repos as sales when they should have been classified as borrowings, the newspaper reported. The amounts involved were small for the banks, though they totaled billions.
