Business news for Sun, 23 Dec 2007 & with words debt+markets. 2 news.

CITIGROUP Inc, Bank of America Corp, and JPMorgan Chase & Co have abandoned a United States Treasury-sponsored plan to buy assets from cash-strapped structured investment vehicles. The "SuperSiv" fund brokered by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, said to be about US$80 billion when it was announced in October, "is not needed at this time," the banks said. The need for a bailout has diminished as HSBC Holdings Plc, bond insurer MBIA Inc and other companies that manage SIVs arranged their own rescues. The steps lessened the threat that SIVs would dump their holdings and further affect credit markets suffering from losses in securities tied to subprime mortgages. New York's Citigroup said last week it would guarantee US$58 billion in debt from SIVs it manages in order to avoid a sale of the assets, Bloomberg News reported. More than 20 banks, SIVs and investment managers participated in the discussion with BlackRock Inc the adviser, the statement said. The banks

The financial crisis that has gripped markets since the summer has left most in the City agreeing that 2007 will go down as the high watermark of an era of cheap credit and complex debt instruments, a new survey shows.