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The Salt Lake City company is targeting an efficiency ratio more in line with other regional banks by closing branches and finding ways to boost revenue. Zions hopes its efforts will reduce annual pretax expenses by $120 million by 2017.
June 2 -
WashingtonFirst Bankshares (WFBI) in Reston, Va., is the latest lender to divest securities on concerns about the Volcker Rule's controversial ban on collateralized debt obligations.
December 27 -
Zions Bancorp (ZION) said the Volcker Rule will force it to take a $387 million charge on its portfolio of collateralized debt obligations.
December 16
Zions Bancorp. in Salt Lake City has sold its remaining collateralized debt obligations.
The $57.6 billion-asset company had been steadily selling off bank and insurance trust-preferred CDOs since late 2013 to comply with the Dodd-Frank Act's Volcker Rule.
Zions said in a press release that it sold $574 million of CDOs during the second quarter, booking a pre-tax loss of $137 million. The amount includes $81 million of CDOs that the company sold before June 1.
The sale represents a improvement over the $149 million unrealized loss Zions recorded prior to the securities" sale. As a result, the sales will be "slightly accretive" to pro forma book value and capital ratios, the company said.
Zions also said that the CDOs had been generating about $9 million in annual interest income, adding that it plans to make up for the lost income by buying more U.S. agency mortgage-backed securities.
