Olympia & York Creditors May Disclose Loans : Finance: Bank stocks have tumbled as investors anticipate losses connected with the giant developer’s bankruptcy filing.

Dozens of banks, facing massive write-downs on loans to Olympia & York Developments Ltd., are expected to be pushed in coming weeks to disclose how much money they are owed by the troubled property giant.

O&Y; filed for protection from creditors on its Canadian assets on May 14, listing debts of $12.5 billion on the 29 affected subsidiaries.

Before the cash crisis, brought on by a worldwide downturn in real estate markets and problems at its massive Canary Wharf development in London, Toronto-based O&Y; had operated in near-secrecy as a family business controlled by Canada’s Reichmann brothers.

Now banks and other creditors, facing tough loan renegotiations, are hungry for information on how much the developer owes and to whom.

Prices for bank stocks have tumbled over the past few months, especially on the Canadian and Japanese stock markets, on growing investor nervousness about the potential impact of O&Y; on bank earnings.

“I think we’ll find out a hell of a lot more . . . are opposed to making guesses on top of guesses,” one Toronto banking industry analyst said in reference to upcoming court hearings.

“They’re going to be more forthcoming about what the exposures are, and very definitely about what the impact might be.”

Lawyers for O&Y; and many of its creditors return to an Ontario court Thursday to continue to try to formulate a long-term restructuring plan for the developer, which owns landmark skyscrapers in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Toronto and other cities.

Lawyers representing Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., Credit Lyonnais, Credit Suisse, Barclays, Citibank and five major Canadian banks were among an estimated 50 attorneys in the packed courtroom last week.

The Bank of Nova Scotia led an effort in court to force other banks to reveal their exposure levels and the assets by which their loans are secured.

“We think to start a resolution of this problem requires, firstly, full disclosure of where everybody stands in this whole situation vis-a-vis O&Y;,” said Robert Chisholm, executive vice president of finance with Bank of Nova Scotia.

“Up to now there’s been more rumor than fact floating around.”

Scotia submitted an affidavit stating that the bank is owed $525 million plus interest by O&Y.;

“Part of the issue is, a lot of people don’t know where others stand,” Chisholm said.

“The lenders to O&Y; are in various camps depending on their collateral, what their perception is. . . . We just thought this wasn’t the way to go.”

The size of Scotia’s exposure surprised some analysts.

“It’s higher than the consensus expectations,” the banking analyst said. “Now the question is whether you extrapolate that to other banks. I guess we’ll find out next week.”

Scotia and the other four major Canadian banks owed money by O&Y; will release their second-quarter results over the next two weeks and may give an indication then of how big they expect their losses to be.