Wachovia Widens First-Quarter Loss 80% on Insurance (Update2)

, the fourth-largest
U.S. bank, said it lost $708 million in the first quarter, 80
percent more than it reported last month, reflecting writedowns
on life coverage policies for employees.

Wachovia wrote down the assets by $315 million in the
quarter, inflating its quarterly loss from $393 million, the
bank said in a filing today. That agency the Charlotte, North
Carolina-based depository financial institution lost 36 cents a share, compared with the 20-
cent loss reported on April 14.

The alteration may dent the credibleness of ,
Wachovia's Head Executive Officer, who last calendar month called the
$24 billion purchase in 2006 of , as
housing peaked, ''ill-timed.'' The depository financial institution will pay up to $144
million to settle down ailments it allow telemarketers booty customer
accounts and may incur a $1 billion complaint on taxation accounting.

''It paints a image that they aren't totally in control
of their fates or their financials,'' said ,
the laminitis of Hill-Townsend Capital LLC, a money management
firm in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Wachovia said the writedown followed the bank's reappraisal of
three ''stable-value agreements,'' which totaled $360 million,
from an unrevealed third-party guarantor. Bank-owned life
insurance, or BOLI, is ''designed to do money for the depository financial institution and
provide a tax-benefit advantage,'' Francis Everett Townsend said.

Market Value Shrinks

Wachovia rose 25 cents to $30.03 as of 11:52 a.m. inch New
York Stock Exchange . The stock had fallen about 22
percent so far this twelvemonth through yesterday. Wachovia have lost
half its marketplace value since it bought Oakland, California-based
Golden West.

The world's greatest Banks have got reported more than than $318
billion of recognition losings and plus writedowns stemming from the
U.S. subprime mortgage-market collapse. Wachovia have recorded
$7 billion in writedowns and recognition losings over the past three
quarters, while raising $10.5 billion in further capital.

''Wachovia goes on to have got one of the strongest capital
positions in the fiscal services industry,'' spokeswoman
said. She said Wachovia wouldn't
comment beyond today's filing.

Wachovia said April 14 it may take a 7 to 8 percentage loss on
its $121 billion of option adjustable-rate mortgages because of
declining place terms and ''unprecedented consumer behavior.''
Some 14 percentage of its option-ARM loans matched or topped the
value of the implicit in place in February, with three-fourths
of those loans in California, the depository financial institution said.

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