Banks 'face a further $300bn sub-prime hit'

The world's financial institutions will have to write down a further $300bn (£152bn) of US sub-prime losses before the crisis is over, according to a study by consulting firm Oliver Wyman. "We expect a stormy 2008," Oliver Wyman said in its State of the Financial Services Industry report. "While governments, central banks and regulators scramble to address the aftermath of the sub-prime fallout, several other crises are mounting."