Bernanke: Banks aggressive in marking down SIV assets

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday that banks were being aggressive in writing down the value of assets held in off-balance-sheet structured investment vehicles affected by credit turmoil, but more reductions may be in store.

"I think (banks) are being aggressive in marking down their assets. Based on what they can see they have in most cases disclosed the losses that they have," Bernanke told a hearing of the congressional Joint Economic Committee. "The possibility remains that individual assets will be marked down as they get down-rated, for example, which will require rethinking."

He said an industry rescue fund for such assets could help stabilize markets and prevent a "fire sale" of such assets, but they needed to go into the fund at current market values.

(Reporting by David Lawder, editing by Leslie Adler)