Citi Bites the Brokerage Bullet

 There can be a huge difference between what a bank says its assets are worth and what they will fetch in the market reports the WSJ

The latest reminder: a deal announced Tuesday by Morgan Stanley and Citigroup that valued their brokerage joint venture at $13.5 billion. That is almost $10 billion less than what Citi figured the Smith Barney venture was worth this spring and will lead the bank to take a noncash, aftertax charge of $2.9 billion in the third quarter.

What's more, Citi didn't just agree to this value for the 14% stake it and Morgan were currently haggling over….

Read all about it at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443696604577645734280665606.html?mod=markets_newsreel