New York Fed Sees $2.5 Billion Profit on Bear Stearns in Final Maiden Lane Sales

Banking, finance, and taxes

Published: September 18, 2018 12:05 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 5:44 pm

The financial crisis and the Great Recession of a decade ago brought on some very positive and some very questionable outcomes after considering the banking bailouts. Some people wanted the bailouts to be aimed at the public, and others believe that targeting the sources was the easiest way to avoid an outright meltdown. This is a debate that will continue well into the future. What is no longer up for debate is the assets tied to Maiden Lane (the funds tied to the Bear Stearns acquisition) in a deal that ultimately went to JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM).

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has announced that it has completed the sale of its remaining securities in the Maiden Lane portfolio. Those securities were sold off over the course of the past several months, and the final sale took place over the past two weeks.

Maiden Lane was the entity formed to help facilitate JPMorgan’s acquisition of Bear Stearns in the midst of the financial crisis. The New York Federal Reserve noted that the net proceeds from past sales and the cash flow the securities while they were held equated to a full repayment of the New York Fed’s loan, plus interest and all-in, resulted in a net gain of $2.5 billion for the benefit of the public.

The remaining portion of Maiden Lane will retain minimal cash to meet any trailing expenses in order to facilitate an orderly wind-down. Also noted in the Fed’s release was that the New York Fed will provide an update on December 17, 2018, regarding the activity of the Maiden Lane holdings since inception.

Now that while the financial crisis was about 10 years ago, there are many lasting scars that remain that are quite evident today. Maiden Lane was not counted as one of those scars, but it was a legacy hangover of the time.