November 16, 2007 (LPAC)--HSBC has decided to bail out two of its SIVs, Cullinan Finance Ltd. and Asscher Finance Ltd., for $45 billion. The bank will now have to list the losses on its balance sheet, but says that they will be offset by an "accounting gain," and by $3.4 billion they had set aside for sub-prime losses. HSBC (Hong Shang Banking Corporation) is number two worldwide in SIV holdings, after Citigroup.

And, if that weren't bad enough, Bloomberg News reports that Goldman Sachs analysts in Hong Kong have produced a report saying HSBC may have to put up more than $12B more for CDO losses before the end of next year. The added losses come from HSBC buyout of US lender Household International in 2003. They have downgraded the bank from "neutral" to "sell."

In other words, the rate of the collapse is accelerating.