[ by Melanie Gretchen ] The SEC asked banks to consider providing a breakdown of their exposures in each country, divided by their gross sovereign, financial-institution and non-financial report.  In anticipation of potential further damage from Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the commission is also looking into how gross exposures are hedged through instruments - including CDSs (credit-default swaps) - and is discussing any such "circumstances under which losses may not be covered by purchased credit protection." What Europe Has Cost So Far. Although the SEC hasn't said which countries' debt should be subject to guidance, it has suggested that firms should focus on those experiencing "significant" economic, fiscal or political strains - including net exposure to government and non-government debt of Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal. The following exposures are as of 9/30/11:   

• JPMorgan: $15.2 billion in net exposure.
• Bank of America: $14.6 billion.
• Citigroup: $7.2 billion.
• Goldman Sachs: $2.46 billion in net exposure.
• Morgan Stanley: $2.1 billion in net exposure.

With Europe down for the count and the domino effect in full force, we can only hope the year will get better.  So far, during the first few days of 2012, S&P has downgraded France from its lofty AAA rating, while it's looking toward downgrading other Continental countries like Austria.  Still, no deal has been secured for Greek's bailout. Fingers remain crossed.  And that's no lie! For further details, go to [WSJ, 1/10/12] and [WSJ, 1/13/12].