Carlyle Capital Corporation, the Amsterdam-listed investment vehicle of private equity firm The Carlyle Group, has said its lenders have sold $5bn (€3.3bn) of the fund's mortgage-backed securities they held under repurchase agreements to reduce its indebtedness, as banks continue to rein in their lending to highly leveraged investors.

The investment vehicle had $21.7bn in assets at the end of February, all of which was invested in AAA-rated agency residential mortgage-backed securities, which carry an implicit government guarantee against default. At the end of February the vehicle was leveraged 32 times, according to its annual report.