Jefferies Reduces European Sovereign Debt Exposure by 49%

Jefferies Reduces Gross Holdings of Sovereign Debt of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain by 49.5% in Today’s Trading in Europe 9:18 am ET 11/07/2011 – Business Wire NEW YORK & LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 7, 2011– Jefferies announced today that its trading positions in the sovereign securities of the nations of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain have been reduced by an aggregate of approximately $1.1 billion long and $1.1 billion short. This represents a 49.5% reduction in Jefferies’ gross holdings of these securities since the close of business Friday and resulted in no meaningful profit or loss on today’s trading activity or our remaining positions, which continue to be substantially matched by country and maturity. Jefferies’ current net exposure to these sovereign securities is currently $59 million, or 1.7% of shareholder equity, with negligible market or credit risk. “We undertook this reduction in our holdings solely to demonstrate the liquid nature of this market-making trading book,” said Richard Handler, Chairman and CEO, and Brian Friedman, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Jefferies, in a joint statement. “We will now resume our normal market-making activities and serve our clients around the world.