Financial Times quotes portfolio manager Axel Merk's reservations about the banks' planned $100 billion mortgage asset special investment vehicle (SIV).

"Some traders were concerned that the [proposed mortgage superfund] might distort the market: 'It seems like the goal of the banks is to create an illusion of a stable market, then offload the newly created entity to investors,' said Axel Merk, head of the Merk Hard Currency investment fund."