Revised Report Finds S&L; Assets Fell $3.6 Billion

The Office of Thrift Supervision on Friday revised its count of assets at solvent U.S. savings and loan institutions to show a $3.6-billion drop during October instead of the $800-million increase that it reported Wednesday.

The agency said the initial assets estimate, the value of a thrift’s loan portfolio, was based on actual data submitted by 96% of the 2,636 thrifts and estimates for the remaining 4%.

“In this case, the remaining 4% included institutions with significant asset shrinkage,” the agency said in a statement.

The OTS said it routinely revises data to reflect the effects of new information. However, it said, “Rarely is the impact of these revisions as significant as the asset figures for October.”

The newest figures show a continuation of the drop in S&L; assets of the past several months.

The decline is partly the result of the $159-billion savings and loan rescue bill, passed in 1989, that requires thrifts to increase their capital, relative to assets, to protect themselves against unexpected losses.