NEW YORK – In Fitch's Feb. 10 ratings action, the company said retail corporates will lose all of the $450 million PIC II capital they invested in U.S. Central just six weeks ago.

"Regarding the PIC investments in USC, while it has yet to be determined how and when the corporate credit unions should account for the potential loss on their investment in USC, Fitch is assuming that the corporate credit unions will need to write off their PIC II investment entirely and perhaps a small portion of PIC I, which would also have a material impact on capital," wrote Senior Director Ken Ritz in Fitch's official ratings release. The statement rankles corporate executives, who say U.S. Central told them just one week after closing the PIC II conversion that year-end OTTIs were only estimated to be between $100 and $150 million. U.S. Central confirmed that, saying its independent securities analysts said those numbers were correct as of Dec. 31; however, by mid-January, those firms were singing a different tune, multiplying those estimated losses ten-fold into $1.2 billion worth of OTTIs.