Wachovia to buy back $8.5 billion of auction-rate securities

After CitiGroup, UBS and Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, it's now Wachovia's turn to buy back at face value the auction-rate securities it sold to clients for an amount of 8.5 billion USD. The full report is worth reading, specially regarding the timing and the type of investors who are impacted. It seems like Wachovia's balance sheet won't be affected before mid 2009, which also confirms that the whole banking mess is still far from over.

Wachovia currently estimates that the par value of ARS currently outstanding and eligible for purchase under the above offers totals approximately $8.5 billion

Next up, Merrill Lynch.