"Legg Mason raised capital during the first six months of 2008 in part to provide the company with additional financial strength to work through potential issues caused by continued uncertainty in the credit markets," said Mark R. Fetting, Legg's president and chief executive. "While there was improvement in the markets during the months of April and May, there has been an adverse market environment for most asset-backed securities in June."
Yesterday's action, Fetting said, "extends our support to every stable value fund that has exposure to SIVs, is part of our continued monitoring of credit market conditions and we may take additional action if we deem it appropriate."
Legg has incurred a total of $873 million in charges related to its money market funds, or $468 million after taxes and operating expenses, spokeswoman Mary Athridge said.
