Wachovia Securities is winding down its real estate lending business in Europe.
Employees of the bank, which was taken over by Wells Fargo at the start of this year, are believed to have been informed about an “orderly liquidation” of its European activities.
Wachovia had $2.5bn (€2bn) of European commercial property loans in June 2008, of which $1.5bn were exposed to Germany. It is expected that the existing loans will be allowed to mature and will then be repaid.
Maitland Bruce resigned this month as managing director and head of real estate finance, Europe. Last January, four of the bank’s regional German offices were closed.
