Bank write-offs rise to £276bn

The credit crisis has forced financial firms to write down $503 billion (£276 billion) worth of assets, but more losses could yet come in months ahead, the Bank for International Settlements said.

Big transfers of funds from the US to Europe continue, as well as a shift to safer assets, the BIS added.

"In the first quarter of 2008, reporting banks continued their net transfer of funds out of the United States, a trend evident since the onset of the financial turmoil in mid-2007," the Swiss-based BIS said in its quarterly review of financial markets and banking activity.

It said European banks had cut dollar loans booked by their US offices, resulting in a net outflow from those offices of $259 billion during the first quarter of year, following a net outflow of $238 billion during the second half of 2007.