* * * * * J B K * * * * *
San Francisco
US banks earned $2.5bn last year from an accounting rule that enables them to book gains – known as "Christmas capital" – by buying assets at a discount, a new study shows.
More than half of all acquisitions of failed banks last year resulted in such gains, according to SNL Financial, which compiled the data.
For some banks, the gains contributed to the lion's share of their income for the year.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/af2828b6-400a-11df-8d23-00144feabdc0.html
