The real reason JP Morgan Chase bought Bear Stearns?

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

Here's an intriguing thought on why JP Morgan Chase bought Bear Stearns: because it had to. Seeking Alpha notes that the idea make sense when you consider that JP Morgan Chase's credit exposure to capital ratio hovers around 50 percent (a lot of which is in derivatives), which is quite high compared to its peers. For some, it follows that Bear Stearns likely was a big counterparty to all this exposure. "They would have had to step in to avoid a Bear bankruptcy so that they would not be forced to take toxic assets back onto their own balance sheet and avoid massive writedowns. Were JP's exposure to Bear large enough, then JP Morgan itself could have been left significantly impaired." Interesting theory.

For more:
- here's the Seeking Alpha item